The Congressional Research Service

Does Homeland Security Exist Outside the United States?
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Does Homeland Security Exist Outside the US?
The Congressional Research Service defines homeland security as ‘the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive’ CITATION Sha13 \l 1033 (Reese, 2013). To achieve this objective, the US government must also protect itself against external attacks. Thus, to guarantee the primary objective of homeland security, external threats must be sought, pursued, and neutralized before they pose a security threat in the country.
Terrorism is one of the key threats to homeland security. Al Qaeda terrorists in the Middle East masterminded the 9/11 attack on US soil. It was a wake-up call on how the US government fought terrorism around the world. Shortly after the attack, the Afghan war started. Through terrorism countering programs, the US government seeks to find and neutralize terrorists before they reach the US mainland CITATION Dep19 \l 1033 (Department of Homeland Security, 2019). The Taliban, ISIL, ISIS, AL Qaeda, and any other terrorist group in the Middle East were pursued in the name of protecting the homeland. Resources that were poured into intelligence collection and fighting the terrorists were considered to be done in the name of protecting the motherland.
Since terrorism has evolved, the US government has cast a wider net to protect itself from any future attacks. For example, on Aug 7, 1998, the US Embassy in Nairobi and Tanzania were attacked and led to over 200 fatalities. While this was a precursor to the 9/11 attack on US soil, it prompted the US government to increase its surveillance efforts to protect its assets and its citizens anywhere in the world. An attack on the embassy is synonymous with attacking the country, and thus the US government has the mandate to protect its diplomats, even those working in largely insecure areas. For this reason, the US government and intelligence agencies work cooperatively with other countries to expand homeland security efforts as they pose a threat to its citizens and/or assets situated away from the US mainland CITATION Ale14 \l 1033 (Tiersky & Epstein, 2014).
The actions of rogue nations also prompt the US government to expand its homeland security efforts to ensure that it protects itself from their attacks CITATION USD02 \l 1033 (US Department of State, 2002). The key rogue and outrightly belligerent nations to the US around the world are North Korea, Iran, and Russia. Lately, there have been some provocations with China about the South China Sea, and Beijing is increasingly posing a significant threat to the US CITATION Bil19 \l 1033 (Hayton, 2019). Since the US does not consider the intentions of these countries to be in the best interest of the US, homeland security efforts involve monitoring their activities to ensure that they do not pose a threat to the US mainland. The US befriends other countries near the belligerent nations and establishes surveillance stations to monitor the activities of its enemies. As for North Korea, the US worked with South Korea. As for Iran...