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The US National Strategy
The National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets, first formulated in February 2003 and subsequently expanded and updated, identifies a set of goals and objectives and outlines the guiding principles for a strategy to reduce the US' vulnerability to acts of terrorism by protecting the infrastructures and assets vital to national security, governance, public health and safety, economy, and public confidence. The document underlines by far the most comprehensive and far-reaching policy worldwide in this regard, and as such it contains useful lessons and indications for any nation or organisation that would need to regard these issues as a matter for concern. This study is based on a summary of the official document.
The September 11 attacks demonstrated the US national-level physical vulnerability to the threat posed by a formidable enemy - mass destruction terrorism. The events of that day also validated how determined, patient, and sophisticated - In both planning and execution - terrorists have become. The basic nature of our free society greatly enables terrorist operations and tactics, while, at the same time, hinders our ability to predict, prevent, or mitigate the effects of terrorist acts. Given these realities, it is imperative to develop a comprehensive national approach to physical protection.
Strategic Objectives
The strategic objectives that underpin our national critical infrastructure and key asset protection effort include:
- Identifying and assuring the protection of those infrastructures and assets that we deem most critical in terms of national-level public health and safety, governance, economic and national security, and public confidence consequences;
- Providing timely warning and assuring the protection of those infrastructures and assets that face a specific, imminent threat; and
- Assuring the protection of other infrastructures and assets that may become terrorist targets over time by pursuing specific initiatives and enabling a collaborative environment in which federal, state, and local governments and the private sector can better protect the infrastructures and assets they control.
Protecting America's critical infrastructures and key assets calls for a transition to a new national cooperative paradigm. The basic tenets of homeland security are fundamentally different from the historically defined tenets of national security. Traditionally, national security has been recognised largely as the responsibility of the federal...