What the Homeland Security Community Can Learn From Babies
What the Homeland Security Community Can Learn From Babies
As a proud father of an eleven month old, I’ve learned a lot about parenting in the last year of my life. From diaper changes to feeding times, my daughter has taught me much. I’m learning even more now that she’s crawling everywhere and getting into everything she can reach. One of the biggest lessons learned lately (and still learning) is that most times, she will look to my wife and I for clues on how to react to something. One of my biggest challenges lately is to keep myself from saying “Oh My God!” when she falls and hurts herself. That is always sure to solicit a negative reaction from a baby. I’m slowly learning to fight the initial onset of panic, so as to not make her panic. I’m becoming savvier at recognizing that when she falls or bangs her head, she will look to me with an on-the-fence look of whether to ignore what just happened or cry. I’m learning that parenting is not about reading a best practices book and being a pro, but through making best efforts and learning from my mistakes.
Relevance to Homeland Security
A lot of research has been done about “lessons learned” and its utility within the business and government worlds. I would argue that the question is not about whether there is value in performing lessons learned. Instead, I believe that research needs to be performed about whether organizations recognize when they need to perform lessons learned, are they doing it correctly, and are they actually applying the knowledge gained to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Furthermore, are we proactively trying to learn from the successes and mistakes of our allies? For example, many would argue that in today’s world, wars are not fought on the ground, but in the media. That said, many believe (and I agree) that Israel lost the information/media war against Hamas in their latest clashes. So how can we learn from Israel?
Relevance to Current Events
Every time I read or watch the news, the media is doing everything they can to sensationalize both the “Ebola Crisis” in the US and the threat to the US from ISIS. There is no question that there is an Ebola crisis in Africa right now. It is spreading like wildfire over there, and it seems that no African governments have taken the lead to at least mitigate the spread of the disease. However, if one were to read the news in the US, they might be convinced that the Ebola threat here is the same as it is in Africa. Ebola is a horrible disease with the potential to become a crisis here, but we are nowhere near the level of threat that is being reported in the news. Government health agencies should definitely keep Ebola on their radar, and have plans in place in the instance there is an actual Ebola crisis in the US’ future. In the meantime, why are government agencies not taking the opportunity to try and counter the message that the media would have us believe?
Likewise, a non-homeland security citizen might fear the threat of ISIS more than they should. ISIS is definitely a menace in the Middle East right now. Their numbers are growing, and they continue to gain more ground in Iraq and Syria, and are definitely making life miserable for those living in the region. Although they have expressed interest in attacking the US homeland, their biggest focus is on gaining ground and popularity in the Middle East. Again, US government agencies should keep ISIS in their sights, but intelligence reports have suggested that there is no imminent threat from ISIS to the US homeland. So why are government agencies not stepping in to reassure the safety of US citizens?
Learning From Babies
Just like babies look to their parents and caregivers when they think they might have hurt themselves, a nation’s citizens are looking for someone to tell them how to feel about real and/or potential threats to the country. In the case of Ebola and ISIS, the media is screaming “Oh My God!” and creating the narrative that the threat is much worse than it really is. The homeland security community missed the opportunity to set the tone for the American people. I can only hope that someone will take some lessons learned from the Ebola and ISIS scenarios, as we should have done from the Hamas/Israel information war. But going back to the questions I posed earlier, will anyone recognize that the battle for American influence through information dissemination warrants a lessons learned? If someone recognizes that this is the case, will the lessons learned be performed appropriately? If the answer to the first two questions is yes, then will someone have the ability to apply the lessons learned so that government agencies can take control of the information war in the future regarding crises, either real or perceived?
If the homeland security community continues to the let the American public look to the media to tell them how they should feel about events that could affect their security, there will be real consequences even if the threat is low or nonexistent. For example, if the media convinces the American public that there is a major threat from a deadly communicable disease when there is none, people will not go to work, attend school, or live their lives as they normally would. This would be detrimental to the US economy, and subsequently homeland security. Similarly, if the US public is convinced that an overseas terrorist group will imminently attack the US homeland when there is no credible intelligence that substantiates the threat, people will be hesitant to travel, or frequent big cities. This would also have both economic and homeland security consequences.
Both we and our allies have made mistakes in our respective information wars. When will government agencies realize that crafting the narrative for their intended audience is just as important as combating the threat?
