Friday, September 08, 2006

Defending Against Strategic Terrorists Over the Long Run: A Basic Approach to Resource Allocation

Abstract: "The efficient allocation of resources to defend the United States’ critical infrastructure and key assets against terrorist attacks involves both short and long-run issues. The former focus on attempts to detect and disrupt the planning and execution of operations already underway. The latter focus on long-term efforts to harden sites, reduce vulnerabilities,and make attacks more difficult and less attractive. Because these are longer-term efforts, strategic terrorists will adjust and respond to these measures in order to strike where the defense is weak and the expected gains are high. Recognizing that terrorists are strategic and that resources are limited, the Department of Homeland Security emphasizes that resources must be allocated on the basis of risk. This paper shows that the current approach to risk management does not threat terrorists as fully strategic and that the failure to do so can lead to a significant misallocation of defensive resources. The paper also provides a framework for allocating resources against long-term threats." Source:Institute of Governmental Studies, U.C. Berkeley

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