Evolution of Emergency Management Role
Emergency management in the US was chiefly the work of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The body upon formation was mandated to manage natural and human-made disasters. However, the emergency management role of global agencies has evolved to focus majorly on the counter-terrorism campaign. The US and international communities have identified that contemporary terrorism has developed unexpectedness as a characteristic (Cheng, & Zhao, 2018). Technology facilitates terrorists’ networking. Terrorism is meted on innocent civilians and the political class in a sporadic manner. The devastating 9/11 attack in the US, is one event that made the government institutionalize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to address terrorism as regards the protection of Americans. Humongous resources and expertise have since then been deployed to the department. Britain’s systems too had to evolve disaster management, focusing chiefly on countering terrorism, following the 7/7 London bombing of 2005. Counter-terrorism bill was passed to that effect. The same predicament – attack by terrorists has impacted South Korea. Generally, disaster in the 21st century has been defined using terrorist attacks as the yardstick (Price, B. C. 2019).
The evolution in an emergency management role is characterized by the application of technology in counter-terrorism. Tactics and strategies of predicting attack, preventing terror attacks in the homeland, mitigating attack impact, and recovery from an attack are modernized by technology (Cheng, & Zhao, 2018). Governments have hugely invested in a new age counter-terrorism military, intelligence, satellites, laser-guided missiles, and geospatial technologies. This is to prevent terrorism and be predictive of terror launch trends. Geospatial data is technologically analyzed to develop models that accurately predict threats and pinpoint precisely the exact location of the threat. Besides, awareness has been heightened. Focus has greatly inclined towards educating the public on personal safety and collaboration with the government to expose and criticize radicalization, extremism, and militia organization. There is however a general criticism on governments’ focus on terrorism at the expense of other threats (Kumar & Prasad, 2020). Terror attacks have the potential for more severe impacts on the social, economic, and political spheres. Proper management of the terrorism disaster remains a priority for most governments.
The federal, state, and local governments have a stake in preventing terrorism and mitigating the impact of terrorism. Modern specific events by the Al-Qaeda and other militia groups in the US that are forms of terrorism include bombings e.g. Boston in 2013, mass shootings e.g. Texas in 2019, and assassinations. The US federal government calls for coordination amongst agencies and in all levels of government in creating awareness, detecting threats, and military pursuit of terrorists. The federal government’s response to terrorism is mainly by empowering the US DHS to implement the national strategy for preventing and eradicating terrorism. An example of such a strategy is interrupting militia cash accounts and blocking unaccounted transit of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). The FBI activates the Strategic Information and Operations Center (SIOC) to connect with FEMA for response to disaster. The state and local governments respond by providing resources to boost the national government’s war on terror. They also collaborate with state agencies such as the FBI, CIA, and local law enforcement agencies to protect citizens. The international community on the other hand cooperates with the United Nations Security Council through membership and subscription to support emergency response evolution. Woods, et al. (2017), encourages the use of science and technology as a technique for responding to threats. Besides, the communication system and the internet should be safeguarded to make it interruptive to cyber terrorism.
References
Cheng, C., & Zhao, B. (2018, July). Intelligent counter-terrorism equipment status and development. In International Conference on Applications and Techniques in Cyber Security and Intelligence (pp. 318-324). Springer, Cham.Smith, T. C. (2019). THE CASE FOR FEMA ADOPTING A
Kumar, C. R., & Prasad, B. (2020). Digital Transformation of Modern Terrorism-A Technology Jolt. Public Affairs And Governance, 8(1), 100-118.
Price, B. C. (2019). Terrorism as cancer: how to combat an incurable disease. Terrorism and political violence, 31(5), 1096-1120.
Woods, R. J., McBride, S. K., Wotherspoon, L. M., Beavan, S., Potter, S. H., Johnston, D. M., … & Becker, J. S. (2017). Science to emergency management response. Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering, 50(2), 329-337.