The National Security Act of 1947 established the legal framework for the United States Intelligence Community (USIC), including U.S. counterintelligence. The main purpose for this framework was to create a coordinated and centralized intelligence effort for the United States. When the Act was established, the USIC was relatively small, but it continued to grow and expand not only in size but also in responsibility. Over the years, numerous commissions and political initiatives have examined the growth and expanding mission of the USIC. It is through recommendations by these commissions that the United States has sought to address its numerous shortcomings within the U.S. intelligence and counterintelligence communities. These recommendations have encompassed everything from basic restructuring to the dissolution of intelligence agencies such as the CIA.
For this assignment, you must research and review proposals for intelligence reorganization from 1947 to the present and choose the one proposal that you feel has had the biggest impact on U.S. counterintelligence operations. You must then write a research paper of 750–1,000 words specifically discussing this proposal and why you feel this it has had the greatest impact on U.S. counterintelligence. Your paper should include a summary of the proposal, the incident or event that led to the creation of the proposal, whether or not the proposal was enacted, and the impact the proposal had on the counterintelligence mission. This assignment will require additional outside research, and your paper must be supported by at least 2 scholarly references.
Assignment Guidelines
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- Using the library, course materials, textbook, and Web resources, research and review proposals for intelligence reorganization from 1947 to the present.
- Select the one proposal that you feel has had the biggest impact on U.S. counterintelligence operations.
- Address the following in a research paper of 750–1,000 words:
- Provide a detailed summary of the proposal.
- Provide a summary of the incident or event that led to the creation of the proposal.
- State whether or not the proposal was enacted.
- Explain the reasoning behind the decision.
- What impact did the proposal have on the U.S. counterintelligence mission?
- Why do you feel that this proposal had the greatest impact on the U.S. counterintelligence mission?
- Be sure to thoroughly justify your arguments.
- Using the library, course materials, textbook, and Web resources, research and review proposals for intelligence reorganization from 1947 to the present.
- This assignment will require additional outside research, and your paper must be supported by at least 2 scholarly references.
Emergent Topics in Homeland Security and Emergency Management: HLS340-1503A-01
For the capstone project of this course, you need to consider homeland security not just within the scope of terrorism but across the full spectrum as a metadiscipline. Here, you are to explore the security of the United States in every regard. Is the greatest risk terrorism? economic collapse? other nations becoming financially superior? failure of America’s domestic infrastructure? other nations developing superior militaries? internal domestic terrorism?
In this assignment, you will complete an analysis memo that provides a situation report of the nation’s greatest risks and threats, a prioritization of the level of threat they pose to the United States, and recommended strategies to address them. For each threat or risk you identify, be sure to support with cited research why it poses a risk or threat to the United States and what the consequences of the risk or threat being realized (i.e., if it actually happens) would be.
Consider all that has been discussed within this course and your previous course work. To complete this assignment, use the course materials, course articles, library, and Web resources as well as your own research. Your analysis memo should be 1,500–2,500 words.
Once you have submitted your analysis memo by the assignment due date, the instructor will review your work and provide feedback. For the Phase 5 Individual Project, you will apply the feedback provided by your instructor by making the recommended changes and submitting the final draft of your memo.
Assignment Guidelines
- Using the course materials, course articles, library, and Web resources, determine the direction in which you will take while writing your memo and then conduct your research accordingly.
- In 1,500–2,500 words, address the following 6 topics and the threats they pose to the United States:
- International terrorist attacks
- Domestic terrorist attacks
- Economic collapse
- Failure of critical infrastructure
- Financial stability and growth of other nations
- Other nations’ military powers
- For each of the above 6 topics, use the following questions to help guide you in your threat analysis:
- What vulnerabilities or risks currently exist? Explain.
- What serious threats does the United States face? Explain.
- How significant are the threats posed compared to the other 5 topics? Why?
- Based on your research, would you consider the threats as relatively low or high priority? Explain.
- What would be the impact if a significant event were to occur? Consider the impact on the following:
- Government stability
- Social stability
- Crime rates and types
- Ecological damage
- Human casualties
- International relations
- Long-term impacts
- What do you propose as a solution for alleviating these risks and preventing a significant event from occurring?
- Why will this solution be effective? Explain.
- How long will it take until significant positive results are realized? Why?
- What difficulties might arise when implementing your solution? Explain.
- All information within your analysis memo must be fully supported by scholarly or credible academic sources.
- All sources must be referenced using APA style.