State of National Resilience: An Element of Homeland Security

Resilience and Homeland Security Mid-Term Assignment
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Resilience and Homeland Security Mid-Term Assignment
As the President’s Homeland Security advisor, recognizing the central role of this department in averting complex domestic and external threats facing the United States is critical. Its continued success in this duty demonstrates the unwavering resilience to overcome the ever-changing hazards threatening the stability and existence of essential infrastructures, especially energy. Linkov and Trump (2019) define resilience as the ability to anticipate or cope with disruptive circumstances or events and respond to the consequences while maintaining critical structure and functions. This concept has raised significant attention at the governance level, demanding all authorities, including Homeland Security, to consider resilience while overseeing diverse infrastructural sectors (JasiЕ«nas et al., 2021). Such an aspect would determine their ability to withstand climate change-related pressures, cyberattacks, and terrorist threats. Thus, investigating the energy sector’s national resilience highlights protective strategies, identifies gaps, and recommends appropriate measures.
The United States has made tremendous progress in integrating resilience within its governing authorities and departments for critical infrastructure protection. Fisher et al. (2018) indicate that the country recognizes the ever-present hazards threatening the energy infrastructure, strengthening its security against potential interferences. As a result, Homeland Security has gradually implemented many strategies since 1989, developing elaborate plans and procedures, system hardening, and eradicating redundancies. Such efforts led to improvements against physical security, terrorism, cyber threats, and other hazards in diverse capacities (Fisher et al., 2018). These tactics include executive orders supporting similar initiatives dating back to William Clinton’s one signed in 1996. Thus, the U.S. government has significantly improved the security of critical infrastructure.
Homeland Security also leverages the Regional Resiliency Assessment Program (RRAP) to illustrate the achievements of resilience in critical areas. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (2021) considers RRAP an ongoing voluntary initiative whose primary objective is determining the risk management processes. It represents a coordinated infrastructural regional analysis that assists stakeholders in routinely solving resilience-related challenges and averting associated consequences. Fisher et al. (2018) note that this approach has effectively maintained appropriate security levels that lead to the protection of critical sectors such as the energy infrastructure. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (2021) agrees that RRAP’s efforts have kept Homeland Security alert through timely planning, preparedness, and coordination. Thus, it advances the central elements of resilience.
Even with the existing strategies, this government should recognize that gaps persist because the frequency of attacks o...