Next Generation Homeland Security: Network Federalism and the Course to National Preparedness

Security governance in the second decade of the 21st century is ill-serving the American people. Left uncorrected, civic life and national continuity will remain increasingly at risk. At stake well beyond our shores is the stability and future direction of an international political and economic system dependent on robust and continued U.S. engagement. Outdated hierarchical, industrial structures and processes configured in 1947 for the Cold War no longer provide for the security and resilience of the homeland. Security governance in this post-industrial, digital age of complex interdependencies must transform to anticipate and if necessary manage a range of cascading catastrophic effects, whether wrought by asymmetric adversaries or technological or natural disasters. Security structures and processes that perpetuate a 20th century, top-down, federal-centric governance model offer Americans no more than a single point-of-failure. The strategic environment has changed; the system has not. Changes in policy alone will not bring resolution. U.S. security governance today requires a means to begin the structural and process transformation into what this book calls Network Federalism. Charting the origins and development of borders-out security governance into and through the American Century, the book establishes how an expanding techno-industrial base enabled American hegemony. Turning to the homeland, it introduces a borders-in narrative--the convergence of the functional disciplines of emergency management, civil defense, resource mobilization and counterterrorism into what is now called homeland security. For both policymakers and students a seminal work in the yet-to-be-established homeland security canon, this book records the political dynamics behind the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing development of what is now called the Homeland Security Enterprise. The work makes the case that national security governance has heretofore been one-dimensional, involving horizontal interagency structures and processes at the Federal level. Yet homeland security in this federal republic has a second dimension that is vertical, intergovernmental, involving sovereign states and local governments whose personnel are not in the President's chain of command. In the strategic environment of the post-industrial 21st century, states thus have a co-equal role in strategy and policy development, resourcing and operational execution to perform security and resilience missions. This book argues that only a Network Federal governance will provide unity of effort to mature the Homeland Security Enterprise. The places to start implementing network federal mechanisms are in the ten FEMA regions. To that end, it recommends establishment of Regional Preparedness Staffs, composed of Federal, state and local personnel serving as co-equals on Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) rotational assignments. These IPAs would form the basis of an intergovernmental and interdisciplinary homeland security professional cadre to build a collaborative national preparedness culture. As facilitators of regional unity of effort with regard to prioritization of risk, planning, resourcing and operational execution, these Regional Preparedness Staffs would provide the Nation with decentralized network nodes enabling security and resilience in this 21st century post-industrial strategic environment.

About the Author :
John Fass Morton who was the homeland security lead for the Project on National Security Reform has more than 25 years of analytical experience in national and homeland security.

Review :
"...A must-read for Marines transitioning from the Corps into homeland security fields or law enforcement." -- Leatherneck "While there has been tremendous progress toward strengthening security since the horrific events of September 11, 2001, the dangers and challenges confronting our nation require the active participation of our entire citizenry. This invaluable book serves as a critical tool for our next generation, whose contributions will also be required to prepare and protect against the evolving nature of these threats." -- Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Chairman of The Chertoff Group "Morton's ideas and suggestions provoke the reader to think about what homeland security should look like as it continues to evolve. This book is a great starting point for the next generation of homeland security and emergency management professionals to better understand the strategic environment."-- Ellen M. Gordon, Associate Director, Executive Education Center for Homeland Defense and Security, Naval Postgraduate School "John Fass Morton insists correctly that we must go beyond any exclusive federal solution and transform our approach to homeland security with a coordinated and integrated effort at all levels of government and the private sector to reinvigorate the structures and processes over our response to catastrophe. This superbly crafted book is an invaluable contribution to our growing understanding of how best to protect our country." -- Thomas H. Kean, former Chair, 9/11 Commission, and Governor of New Jersey; Co-Chair, the Homeland Security Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center and Lee H. Hamilton, former Vice Chair, 9/11 Commission, and U.S. Representative (Indiana); Co-Chair, the Homeland Security Project, and Director, the Center on Congress at Indiana University "Morton's work with practitioners at the federal, state, and local levels prior to 9/11 and in the Department of Homeland Security under three secretaries, has uniquely prepared him as one of the foremost authorities on the organizational challenges of managing homeland security phenomena." -- Lee Baca, Sheriff, County of Los Angeles "In my over fifty years of working in Washington, I have always been on the lookout for truly strategic thinking that displays an understanding of ways, means, timing, and the human factors. History has taught us that in American grand strategy, there remains no greater neglected subject than the organization or 'disorganization' of our homeland security. I congratulate John Morton for filling the gap. In his analysis of the U.S. approach, Morton gets it right!"-- David M. Abshire, President and CEO, Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress; Co-founder, CSIS; U.S. Ambassador to NATO, 1983-87