Presentation Title: The Geographies of Terrorism and Homeland Security: Where
Do We Go From Here?
Submitted by: Douglas Richardson, Thomas Wilbanks, and Susan Cutter
Affiliations: Association of American Geographers; Oak Ridge National
Laboratory; University of South Carolina
Address: 1710 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009-3198
Phone: 202-234-1450
Fax: 202-234-2744
Email: drichardson@aag.org
Additional info: A book, entitled The Geographical Dimensions of Terrorism,
which is related to the presentation, will be made available at no charge to all
UCGIS Congressional Breakfast attendees.
Project Description:
The Association of American Geographers (AAG), with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), recently concluded a research project entitled, “The Geographical Dimensions of Terrorism.” The project was undertaken as part of NSF’s urgent call for research associated with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US.
The resulting research agenda and recommendations are being widely disseminated to national and international governmental agencies, the geographic research community, and to related disciplines. Outcomes of this study also include the recent publication of a ground-breaking book on the topic. This is an on-going process and we invite the participation of researchers, federal agencies, and policy-makers as we collectively continue to evolve this work in the years ahead.
Key Research Needs
In our discussions with national policy officials and geographic researchers, three broad areas of critical national research priority have repeatedly emerged. These areas were (1) Geospatial Data and Technologies Infrastructure; (2) Underlying Causes of Terrorism; and (3) Vulnerability Science and Hazards. Examples of key recommendations in these areas are summarized below.
Geospatial Data and Technologies
The use of geospatial data and technologies was critical during the rescue, relief, and longer-term recovery from the September 11th events. Their prominence now in planning for international efforts to address terrorism suggests many pressing research needs, both short term and longer term, in the area of geographic information science and technology. Key Action Items include: Establish a distributed national geospatial infrastructure as a foundation for homeland security. This infrastructure should be designed to serve multiple other needs, such as local government, planning, environmental protection, and economic development, as well.
Sample Research Needs:
• What are our society’s critical lifelines and infrastructure vulnerabilities, and how can we develop tools such as GIS to model and map their spatial linkages and interdependencies?
• What are the research challenges for continued integration of transformational
geographic technologies (e.g., real-time GPS/GIS, remote sensing, wireless mobile computing, etc.) to enhance disaster response, national security, and infrastructure vulnerability assessment? What is the potential for using these integrated geographic systems to address complex processes related to terrorism, such as disaster response, reduction of world poverty, sustainable development, and a host of other needs?
• What were the variable geographic and economic impacts of the September 11th events how can we develop better spatial/economic models to predict variable short and long-term geographic impacts of other potential terrorist threats or hazards?
• In an era of heightened security and precautions, how can individual human rights and privacy be protected, when the powerful capabilities of advanced geographic technologies, as with so many other advances in technology, have inherent within them a risk for potential abuse? What social responsibilities will those employing spatial technologies in the future have for human rights, privacy, and related issues?
Underlying Causes of Terrorism
One of geography’s great strengths is its ability to synthesize information about places in order to understand the linkages between regions and the manifestation of global processes at very local levels. The rich set of contexts advanced by regional specialists can assist in understanding the root causes of terrorism. These should be pursued in a systematic and analytically robust manner through a national interdisciplinary research program on the underlying causes of terrorism.
Sample Research Needs:
• How has the political control of space (or lack thereof) fostered terrorism? How do stateless zones and states shift their patterns through time, through changing environmental conditions, and population migrations?
• How can geography education foster better understanding of the world and its diversity, and cooperation among peoples and societies?
Vulnerability Science and Hazards
The meaning of vulnerability has taken on new interpretations since September 11th . We need to broaden our understanding of vulnerability beyond an exposure-response framework to a more holistic view that includes exposure, susceptibility, resistance, resilience, and adaptation. We need a major effort to develop the basic data, models, and methods for conducting vulnerability assessments at all spatial scales.
Sample Research Needs:
• How do we insure the continuity of operations during an emergency and thus prepare for mutual support in terms of surprise? What types of data and information are required to insure an adequate response?
• With regard to bioterrorism, what are the geographic conditions and factors that affect the diffusion of purposely introduced diseases among populations of humans, animals or plants, and how are these different from naturally occurring diseases?
Next Steps
It is important to bring all of our geographical resources to bear on this important national and international priority. Collaborative efforts between organizations such as the UCGIS, AAG, the International Geographical Union, ESRI, and many others, as well as interdisciplinary linkages and partnerships with federal agencies, private firms and international NGO’s will be required as we all work toward refining and achieving this ambitious agenda. Recommendations for follow-up research and action are discussed, as is on-going research activity
Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Select Collaborators Included: The research involved direct participation or consultation with numerous federal agencies, including NIMA, USGS, NRC, NASA, DOT, OSTP, and NSF, as well as senior researchers from over twenty major universities, the New York City Office of Emergency Management, the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, AAG Regional Divisions and Specialty Groups, the International Geographical Union (IGU), and others.