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Perspectives
Addition: Academies Detail War Plan
While the U.S. government expands its war against terrorists and terrorism worldwide, the National Academies are propagating their own antiterrorism plans through their contracting arm, the National Research Council (NRC). Academies executive officer William Colglazier says new items will continue to percolate as people meet and talk. Everything not classified will be listed on the Academies’ web site (www.nas.edu) sometime in January. Colglazier’s telephone number is 202-334-3000. Here is essentially the complete list so far.
Prioritizing vulnerabilities and developing mitigation strategies
A 12-month project that will employ various fact-finding, forecasting,
consensus-building, and risk analysis techniques to understand why and
how terrorists do what they do. It will rank the seriousness of threats
against the vulnerabilities of such key infrastructures as communication
systems, financial networks, water supplies, and other critical structures.
Collaborative Work with Russia
Multi-faceted studies directed toward:
Preventing terrorists from obtaining nuclear materials in Russia. A white
paper will be produced with Russian counterparts outlining how nuclear
materials can be kept out of the hands of terrorists. Ways will be studied
to protect plutonium and enriched uranium supplies at minimal in a struggling
economy.
Understanding high-impact terrorism and, separately, sources of conflict
in multiethnic societies.
Monitoring current Russian germ warfare research at former Soviet research
facilities. The hope is to gain regular access to both facilities and specialists
and thus to promote openness. One hope is to prevent Russian scientists
engaged in that work from moving to potentially hostile countries. Another
is to produce research of potential use in public health, agriculture,
and counter-terrorism.
Evaluating and Protecting Vulnerable U.S. Industrial Targets
Consists only of meetings so far—between chemical industry sources and
National Research Council (NRC) Board on Chemical Sciences, and between
public health and agriculture experts with Academies Boards on Life Sciences
and Agriculture and Natural Resources. Many more are planned.
Naval Forces’ Defense Capabilities Against Chemical and Biological
Warfare Threats
Funded by Chief of Naval Operations. Will examine existing and potential
chemical and biological warfare threats to naval force operations on shoreline
and deep-ocean regions of the world. Will look into various defenses against
them, and examine research, development, testing, and evaluation needs.
Improving Cybersecurity Research in the U.S.
A study by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board to assess
the extent and quality of current federal R&D in this area.
Enhancing Information Management and Data Mining Capabilities for
Combating Terrorism while Protecting Civil Liberties
Examination of research opportunities in data mining while assessing
ways of protecting the privacy of people while government and commercial
concerns are collecting comprehensive sets of information about them.
Issues Affecting Universities
Information-sharing thus far on such issues as visa and foreign student
tracking policies; diversion of biological agents from laboratories performing
critical infectious disease research; and implications of restrictions
on biomedical research, scientific communication, and graduate student
participation in such research.
Improving Research Standards and Practices to Prevent Misuse of Biotechnology
Research
A review and assessment of current rules, regulations, and institutional
setups that oversee research and development work on dangerous pathogens.
Issues will include how research choices are made, and how data on relevant
research is collected and shared, and safeguards over the handling and
transport of materials.
Communicating to Local Governments and Private Citizens about Preparedness
for Terrorism Events
Essentially a notice concerning a January meeting among state and federal
government officials to discuss state role in national R&D and anti-terrorism
policies.
Public Health Initiatives
Workshops assessing response capabilities to biological threats and
on antibiotic resistance to infectious agents, a study for the Defense
Department on the safety and efficacy of anthrax vaccines, and revision
of a 21st century vision for public health to with special reference to
terrorism.
Agricultural Bioterrorism
A study by the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources to assess
the ability of the U.S. to deter, prevent, detect, thwart, respond, and
recover from biological attack against U.S. agriculture.
What Terrorists Value
A study by the NRC Division of Behavioral, Sciences, Social Sciences,
and Education to determine what motivates “high profile” terrorists with
the intent of deterring and defeating them.
Aviation Security
A study by the National Materials Advisory Board for the Federal Aviation
Administration on assessing the operational performance of passenger screening,
explosives detection systems, and hardened cargo containers. Also a review
of the effectiveness of pulsed fast neutron analysis for detecting explosives
in cargo and luggage.
Advanced Energetic Materials and Manufacturing Technologies
A Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design study for the Defense
Department on developing and manufacturing innovative, hard-to-detect explosive
materials.
Materials and Manufacturing Processes for Advanced Sensors
Another study for the Manufacturing and Engineering Design Board to
develop accurate, low-cost, continuously operating sensors for detecting
biological agents within times frames of one minute.
Transportation Security
An overall study by the Transportation Research Board on prevention,
preparedness, response, and recovery from terrorist acts against transportation
systems. Other activities include an assessment of state anti-terrorism
planning efforts, an upcoming meeting to examine multi-modal transportation
redundancies to enhance defense against terrorism, a meeting on improving
emergency evacuation problems in communities, and another meeting on improving
defenses of electric power transmission and distribution systems.
Water Supply Protection
Short term security and longer term research needs including how natural
disaster experiences can contribute to engineering design, public awareness,
evacuation and recovery planning, monitoring of public health risks, public
health system needs, and mental health consequences in connection with
disruption from terrorist acts.
Forum on Terrorism
A Committee on Law and Justice activity which will summarize what the
social sciences have to say about the roots of terrorism in both the United
States and the Muslim world. Several meetings will be organized and numbers
of papers will be commissioned on understanding international terrorism
in general and specific ways based on sociological and political science
research. Other studies will look into aspects of terrorism in the Middle
East, how terrorists organize themselves, use of profiling in combating
terrorism, money laundering, and collective behavior of populations under
terrorist threats.
General Education of the Media and Public on Terrorism Vulnerabilities
and Responses
Nothing much here yet, except for a meeting with media people held on
December 6, 2001, on media coverage homeland defense issues.
Cybersecurity and Authentication Technologies
Mainly a report so far by the Academies Computer Science and Telecommunications
Board that summarizes needs in the field and lays out recommendations.
A pamphlet on national identification systems is coming out shortly.
Chemistry and National Security
A January 2002, workshop is planned on issues revolving around chemical
aspects of national security.
Mathematics and Homeland Security
An April workshop is planned by the Board on Mathematical Sciences on
such issues as pattern recognition and data mining, epidemiological modeling,
and voice and image recognition.
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