Homeland Security | Council on Foreign Relations

How the U.S. Patrols Its Borders

President Joe Biden’s attempts to grapple with a record number of migrants are keeping the role of border enforcement at the center of the U.S. immigration debate.

Backgrounder by Diana Roy, Amelia Cheatham, and Claire Klobucista Jul 26, 2023

Is Huawei a Security Threat?

Huawei faces accusations that Beijing could use its 5G infrastructure for espionage. The outcome of the struggle could shape the world’s tech landscape for years to come.

Backgrounder by Noah Berman, Lindsay Maizland, and Andrew Chatzky Feb 8, 2023

The U.S. Struggle With Migrant Flows in Ten Graphics

Migration to the United States reached record levels in 2022. Here’s a look at the year’s major immigration stories.

Article by Diana Roy Dec 1, 2022

Biden’s New Southern Border Plan Might Just Work

The balance of loathing from the left and right suggests the administration is on the right path.

Article by Edward Alden Apr 12, 2023

The Violent Far-Right Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Military

White supremacist extremism threatens violence against institutions conservatives cherish, including the U.S. military.

Blog Post by Jacob Ware Jan 31, 2023

Homeland Security

Assessing the Threat: Is the United States Still Vulnerable?

Experts discuss how changes to U.S. domestic and international policy since September 11, 2011 have enhanced counterterrorism approaches and contributed to preventing planned terrorist attacks. This session was part of a CFR symposium, 9/11: Ten Years Later, which was made possible by the generous support of Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis.

Event September 12, 2011
United States

A Conversation with Philip Zelikow

Philip Zelikow, former executive director of the 9/11 Commission Report, presses the need to hold trials for the 9/11 conspirators and explores the findings of the report. This session was part of a CFR symposium, 9/11: Ten Years Later, which was made possible by the generous support of Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis.

Event September 12, 2011
Homeland Security

9/11: Ten Years Later

Session One: Keynote SpeakerPhilip Zelikow, Graduate School Dean and Professor of History, University of Virginia; Former Executive Director, 9/11 CommissionWelcoming Remarks: Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign RelationsPresider: Garrick Utley, President, SUNY Levin Institute12:30 to 1:00 PM Buffet Lunch1:00 to 2:00 PM Meeting Session Two: Assessing the Threat: Is the United States Still Vulnerable?Richard A. Falkenrath, Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis Adjunct Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism, New York City Police DepartmentJohn McLaughlin, Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Former Acting Director of Central Intelligence Juan Zarate, Senior National Security Analyst, CBS News; Senior Adviser, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Former Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser for Combating TerrorismPresider: Gideon Rose, Editor and Peter G. Peterson Chair, Foreign Affairs2:15 to 3:30 PM Meeting Session Three: Counterterrorism and Homeland Security: Does the United States Have the Right Strategy?Henry A. Crumpton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Crumpton Group LLC; Former Coordinator for Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of StateJohn F. Lehman, Chairman, J.F. Lehman & Co.; Former U.S. Secretary of the NavyFrances Townsend, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Government, Legal, and Business Affairs, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc.; Former Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and CounterterrorismPresider: Thom Shanker, Pentagon and National Security Correspondent, New York Times; Coauthor, Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America's Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda3:45 to 5:00 PM Meeting5:00 to 6:00 PM Cocktail ReceptionRelated Readings: Global Governance Monitor: Terrorism 9/11 Perspectives: Pursuing a Global Response to Terrorism Ten Lessons Since the 9/11 Attack, Expert Roundup Videos "Al Qaeda's Challenge," by William McCants, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2011 "9/11 in Retrospect," by Melvyn P. Leffeler, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2011 CFR Contingency Planning Memo, “A Pakistan-based Terrorist Attack on the U.S. Homeland” by Stephen Tankel

Event September 12, 2011

Homeland Security

Lost U.S. Opportunities After 9/11

Post-9/11, the United States failed to take advantage of a moment of unprecedented global power to reshape itself and now faces an array of economic threats, says CFR President Richard N. Haass.

Interview with Richard Haass and Bernard Gwertzman September 9, 2011
Terrorism and Counterterrorism

9/11 Perspectives: The Balance of Power in American Politics

This video is part of a special Council on Foreign Relations series that explores how 9/11 changed international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In this video, James M. Lindsay, Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair at the Council on Foreign Relations traces the shifts in the balance of power in American politics following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "What we witnessed in the months after the attack was a political dynamic as old as the American republic. When the country feels imperiled, the White House gains in power and Congress loses it," says Lindsay. However, ten years after the attacks, "the era of terrorism has given way to the era of fiscal austerity," Lindsay argues, and "we now have American politics that looks more normal, that is much more focused inward, and features much more heated battles between Capitol Hill and the White House."

Explainer Video with James M. Lindsay September 8, 2011
Homeland Security

9/11 Perspectives: U.S. Disaster Preparedness

Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, explores the lasting impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed on disaster preparedness and health policy in the United States. Garrett argues that "all our readiness response depends on well-funded police, well-funded fire departments, well-funded hospitals, well-funded public health infrastructures, and precisely the opposite is where we are going right now." Garrett cautions that U.S. preparedness for a major terrorist attack may be decreasing. "As budgets are being cut at the federal level, the state level, and the local level, we’re actually less ready than we were in 2001," Garrett says.

Explainer Video with Laurie Garrett September 1, 2011

Homeland Security

Revisiting a Stale Counterterrorism Law

Within days of the 9/11 attacks, Congress authorized U.S. military and intelligence agencies to kill and detain terrorists. It is time to revise that authority on matters like detentions and drone attacks, says CFR’s John B. Bellinger III.

Interview with John B. Bellinger III and Jonathan Masters September 1, 2011
Pakistan

A Pakistan-based Terrorist Attack on the U.S. Homeland

Overview Al-Qaeda remains committed to striking the United States, but its capacity has been limited by counterterrorism efforts and so might work with or through associated Pakistani outfits to l…

Contingency Planning Memorandum by Stephen Tankel August 25, 2011 Center for Preventive Action
Homeland Security

Ten Lessons Since the 9/11 Attacks

Which policies have worked and which ones need work ten years after the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history? CFR experts examine ten issues that have preoccupied U.S. planners.

Expert Roundup by Daniel S. Markey, Richard A. Falkenrath , Michael Levi, Max Boot , Matthew C. Waxman , Edward Alden , Micah Zenko, Robert Danin, Richard K. Betts and Stephen Biddle August 22, 2011
United States

9/11 Perspectives: Pursuing a Global Response to Terrorism

This video is part of a special Council on Foreign Relations series that explores how 9/11 changed international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In this video, Stewart M. Patrick, senior fellow and director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, identifies the successes and lasting challenges in the international community’s response to global terrorism since the attacks of September 11, 2001. "The world has made a lot of progress," says Patrick, "but it still has quite a bit of a ways to go to achieve real consensus and real solidarity in this fight."

Explainer Video with Stewart M. Patrick August 18, 2011
Homeland Security

9/11 Perspectives: Transformation in U.S. Middle East Policy

This video is part of a special Council on Foreign Relations series that explores how 9/11 changed international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In this video, Steven Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations discusses how the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 transformed the United States’ Middle East policy. Cook argues the attacks led to the conclusion that "authoritarian stability -- that is, relying on authoritarian leaders in the region to help create a political order that made it relatively easier for the United States to pursue its interests in the region -- was perhaps no longer appropriate." Instead, U.S. policy has been devoted from that point on to "fostering democratic change in the Middle East."

Explainer Video with Steven A. Cook August 11, 2011
Homeland Security

9/11 Perspectives: Splinters in the Global Islamist Movement

This video is part of a special Council on Foreign Relations series that explores how 9/11 changed international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In this video, Ed Husain, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, who was previously a member and strategist for radical Islamist organizations in London discusses the impact of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on Islamist extremism as well as global counter-terrorism efforts. "The most important thing that happened after 9/11," says Husain, "is not just the so-called ’War on Terror’, but more importantly, the unspoken and often unheard developments within Islamist extremism globally." Husain argues that "the global Islamist movement then split into two, immediately after 9/11," into global jihadists like al-Qaeda on one side and non-violent extremists on the other.

Explainer Video with Ed Husain August 4, 2011
Homeland Security

9/11 Perspectives: Echoes in Arab World

This video is part of a special Council on Foreign Relations series that explores how 9/11 changed international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In this video, Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow and Director of CFR’s Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative, discusses how the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2011 influenced a debate over social and economic challenges and opportunities in the Middle East.

Explainer Video with Isobel Coleman July 28, 2011
Homeland Security

9/11 Perspectives: Bush’s Freedom Agenda

This video is part of a special Council on Foreign Relations series that explores how 9/11 changed international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In this video, Elliott Abrams, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses how the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2011 transformed the Bush administration. Abrams says 9/11 led then-president Bush to conclude that "bringing democracy and good governance to the Middle East was going to be critical in terms of fighting the sources of Islamic terrorism."

Explainer Video with Elliott Abrams July 21, 2011
Terrorism and Counterterrorism

9/11 Perspectives: How America Changed its Projection of Power

This video is part of a special Council on Foreign Relations series that explores how 9/11 changed international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In this video, Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose argues that the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States "unleashed U.S. power on the world." Rose says this resulted "not just in the Afghanistan campaign, but in the Iraq campaign eventually, in the Global War on Terror, and in the massive deployment of American resources, in power projection, and in an activist world role that wouldn’t have been conceivable without the immediate trigger of a threat in the previous decade." He says the end of this decade saw a "chastened, less hubristic" U.S. attitude and a country confronting a host of domestic challenges.

Explainer Video with Gideon Rose July 14, 2011