This report presents a summary of a December 2001 working conference, sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Attending were emergency workers who responded to the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the anthrax incidents that occurred during autumn 2001. The report addresses the equipment, training and information required to protect emergency responders as they meet the challenge of protecting their communities.

Protecting Emergency Responders: Lessons Learned From Terrorists Attacks

Jackson, Brian A.

Peterson, D.j.

Bartis, James T.

LaTourrette, Tom

Brahmakulam, Irene

Health, Fitness & Dieting

RAND Corporation

Continuing conflicts between violent groups and states generate an ever-present demand for higher-quality and more timely information to support operations to combat terrorism. Better ways are needed to understand how terrorist and insurgent groups adapt over time into more-effective organizations and increasingly dangerous threats. Because learning is the link between what a group wants to do and its ability to gather the needed information and resources to actually do it, a better understanding of the group learning process could contribute to the design of more-effective measures for combating terrorism. This study collects and analyzes the available information on terrorist groups’ learning behavior, combining input from the organizational learning literature, published literature on terrorist and insurgent groups, and insights drawn from case studies and workshop discussions. It describes a model of learning as a four-part process, comprising acquiring, interpreting, distributing, and storing information and knowledge. This analytical framework, by providing a fuller picture of how terrorist groups try to adapt and evolve over time, may help in understanding the behavior of individual groups and the level of threat they pose; in developing effective counterstrategies to detect and thwart their efforts; and in appropriately allocating resources to counter potential and proven adversaries. A companion report, Aptitude for Destruction, Volume 2: Case Studies of Learning in Five Terrorist Organizations, examines in detail the learning activities of five major terrorist organizations and develops a methodology for ascertaining what and why groups have learned.

Aptitude for Destruction, Vol 1: Organizational Learning in Terrorist Groups and its Implications for combating Terrorism

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Continuing conflicts between violent groups and states generate anever-present demand for higher-quality and more timely information tosupport operations to combat terrorism. Better ways are needed to understandhow terrorist and insurgent groups adapt over time into more-effectiveorganizations and increasingly dangerous threats. Because learning is thelink between what a group wants to do and its ability to gather the neededinformation and resources to actually do it, a better understanding of thegroup learning process could contribute to the design of more-effectivemeasures for combating terrorism. This study analyzes current understandingof that process and the factors that influence organizational learning. PartI presents detailed case studies of learning in five terroristorganizations: Aum Shinrikyo, The Radical Environmentalist Movement,Hizballah, Jemaah Islamiyah, and the Provisional Irish Republican Army. InPart II, a methodology is developed for ascertaining what and why groupslearned, gaining insights into their learning processes, and discerning waysin which the law enforcement and intelligence communities might apply thatunderstanding. Insights drawn from the organizational learning literatureare then applied to the case studies. A companion report, Aptitude forDestruction, Volume 1: Organizational Learning in Terrorist Groups and itsImplications for Combating Terrorism, MG-331-NIJ, focuses on the applicationof the concepts developed in this study to policy for combating terrorism.That report presents an abbreviated overview of the research presented hereand explores the application of the results by law enforcement andintelligence activities.

Aptitude for Destruction: Case Studies of Organizational Learning in Five Terrorist Groups

Technology systems play a key role within a larger, integrated strategy to target groups' efforts and protect the public from the threat of terrorist violence. This study draws on relevant data from the history of a variety of terrorist conflicts to understand terrorists' counter-technology efforts. Fully exploring adversaries' counter-technology behaviors can help make the best choices to protect the nation from the threat of terrorism.

Breaching the Fortress Wall: Understanding Terrorist Efforts to Overcome Defensive Technologies

Science & Math

Chalk, Peter

Parachini, John V.

Cragin, Kim R.

Newsome Author of A Practical Introduction to Security and Risk Management (Sage 20, Bruce Oliver

Technology

U.S. communities depend on reliable, safe, and secure rail systems. Each weekday, more than 12 million passengers take to U.S. railways. This book explains a framework for security planners and policymakers to guide cost-effective rail-security planning, specifically for the risk of terrorism. Risk is a function of threat, vulnerability, and consequences. This book focuses on addressing vulnerabilities and limiting consequences.

Securing America's Passenger-Rail Systems

Business & Money

Eisman, Mel

Steinberg, Paul

Riley, Jack K.

Wilson, Jeremy M.

Industries

Develops approaches for assessing asymmetric attacks using cruise missiles or unmanned aerial vehicles, a novel potential threat to homeland targets, in the context of other options available to terrorist actors and for identifying the factors that might make these technologies attractive to adversaries. These approaches provide the basis for exploring defensive options.

Evaluating Novel Threats to the Homeland: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Cruise Missiles

History

Military

Whether U.S. terrorism-prevention efforts match the threat continues to be central in policy debate. Part of this debate is whether the United States needs a dedicated domestic counterterrorism intelligence agency. This book examines such an agency's possible capability, comparing its potential effectiveness with that of current efforts, and its acceptability to the public, as well as various balances and trade-offs involved.

The Challenge of Domestic Intelligence in a Free Society: A Mulitdisciplinary Look at the Creation of a U.S. Domestic Counterterrorism Intelligence Agency

Schaefer, Agnes Gereben

Noricks, Darcy

Lester, Genevieve

Goldsmith, Benjamin W.

The uncertain nature of the terrorist threat is a fundamental challenge in the design of counterterrorism policy. The author recommends a capabilities-based, portfolio approach to terrorism prevention planning. Protective portfolios would combine preventative measures and mitigation and resiliency measures to deal with the uncertain nature of the terrorist threat.

Marrying Prevention and Resiliency: Balancing Approaches to an Uncertain Terrorist Threat

Politics & Government

Deterrence―a central feature of counterterrorism security systems and a major factor in the cost-effectiveness of many security programs―is not well understood or measured. This paper offers a framework for understanding how security systems may deter or displace attacks and how to measure the relative deterrent value of alternative systems. This framework may aid in attempts to achieve increased security benefits with limited resources.

Understanding the Role of Deterrence in Counterterrorism Security (Occasional Papers)

Morral, Andrew R.

The Global Force Management Data Initiative was launched to improve aggregation of unclassified force-structure data. Aggregation, though, raised concerns about classification because the system might be attractive to a potential adversary. The authors develop a framework for evaluating classification decisions to determine that, while overall classification is not indicated, the inclusion of some data will require careful consideration.

What Should Be Classified?: A Framework with Application to the Global Force Management Data Initiative (Rand Corporation Monograph)

Engineering & Transportation

Libicki, Martin C.

Frelinger, David R.

Lachman, Beth E.

Ip, Cesse

Engineering

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