The Terrorist Threat in the United States

Introduction 

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a vital mission of protecting American residents from many threats that the nation faces. One of their purposes is to prevent terrorist attacks by securing their borders and maintaining internal security. This is conducted through their two-level National Terrorism Advisory System namely Bulletins and Alerts. The system allows security enforcers to communicate critical terrorism information without alerting the terrorists ( Rasmussen, 2015) . This enables the people concerned with security to implement necessary protective measures that can handle the terrorist threat against the United States. Apart from other services that the agency provides to the people such as cybersecurity, natural hazards, biological concerns, their highest priority and the reason behind the creation of DHS was the protection of the American from terrorist threats. 

Nature of Terrorist Threats and the Specific Challenges they Pose 

America faces an array of different kinds of terrorist threats which leave American citizens in a confused situation of what security measures to undertake. These threats have varying degrees of the dangers they pose Americans to because some are locally related threats while others are global risks ( Obama, 2014) . Threats aimed at the American region are considered more dangerous followed by regional threats and lastly global ones. Global threats pose a difficult challenge to the United States because the nation cannot handle them alone. It has to involve other states which introduce new problems such as uncooperative governments or financial constraints, especially in developing countries. Also, with time, there have been several changes that have seen the evolution of terrorist threats ( Steele, Parker, & Lickel, 2015) . Some of these known risks are religiously oriented terrorist organizations that started in the past but still pose potential threats that have given American residents sleepless nights. Such groups are usually obsessed with the desire to change a particular religious policy or belief which drives them to attack other people who do not belong in their religion ( Meleagrou-Hitchens & Hughes, 2017) . For example, Islamic terror groups that continuously attack Christian communities in America and other parts of the world. Religious terrorist threats are driven by the idea that different prevailing religions are either evil or corrupt and therefore should be done away with. Another minor nature of the terrorist threat is the self-financed networks that are made up of loosely organized groups of individuals whose primary driving force is bringing restlessness and fear in the nation. 

According to recent surveys and reports are written by the Homeland Security agencies indicate that there is a growing cross-communication promoted by technology which has enabled terrorists to exchange ideas. This has led to the development of a wave of terrorists with advanced levels of training in weaponry science and engineering that has made them more sophisticated for the local security agencies to handle ( Meleagrou-Hitchens & Hughes, 2017) . This has led to a new nature of terrorism where the perpetrators use weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear, chemical, radiological, or biological that can harm a large number of people. Such advancements have forced political institutions to make arrangements for negotiations with terrorist organizations that may be open to dialogue ( Steele, Parker, & Lickel, 2015) . This has made it even harder for the homeland security to intervene terrorist threats smoothly without the interference of the government. 

Some experts have categorized the nature of terrorist threats according to the central aims and motives behind the perpetrators of these acts. National terrorist threats are carried out by people or organizations seeking for political self-determination. Here, the attacks are planned to be executed in areas the agencies want to be recognized primarily abroad or locally when the group tries to liberate some of its people held captive by authorities ( Steele, Parker, & Lickel, 2015) . On a higher level are ideological terrorists whose primary objective is to change the whole system of governance or transform an existing social or economic policy. Managing such threats requires massive financial input which the government may be unable to provide out of its annual budget and the outcome of such risks is usually mass destruction of property. 

International terrorism that is currently affecting the United States is state-sponsored terrorism. In this case, a government intentionally finances a violent non-state actor involved in terrorist activities to attack another state that they are not in good terms ( Rasmussen, 2015) . Identification of such countries that are current perpetrators imposing terrorist attacks to the United States is usually subject to political dispute and therefore not prudent to mention at any setting ( Hellmuth, 2015) . This is because it increases the polarity between the two states. However, state-sponsored terrorist threats are a common happening among countries that have some political, economic, historical, or social differences. 

With technological advancements, weapons being used in terrorism to cause mass destruction have been reduced to small and almost undetected objects. For instance, in the past suicide bombers would wear a bomb and target an area with a large population. But the weapon was large and easily detected by security officers at entry points which helped in curbing some cases that would have led to the loss of life and destruction of property ( Obama, 2014) . However, today, suicide terrorism has become amazingly sophisticated. Suicide bombers have resolved to use of radiological or biological weapons such as small pox or anthrax virus or nerve gas which covers a large area when released causing cessation of life of a large number of people and animals ( Rasmussen, 2015) . These threats have become difficult for DHS to handle because the weapons used are not easily detected. And research conducted by New York-based research and statistics institution revealed that unemployment is among the leading factors that are forcing youths to volunteer for a suicide mission so long as the families they live behind get financial support. 

Steps the Federal Government has/is Implementing to reduce Terrorist Threats 

The Federal government is coming up with an anti-terrorism system that will be working independently of political ends in the nation. This has been effected by improving the relationships between the local homeland security, intelligence organizations, and the government ( Obama, 2014) . Although both federal and state governments have been able to enhance the safety against terrorism, there is still need for a single intelligence institution with a well-defined objective that will drive it to ensure maximum protection against any terrorist threats targeted to Americans especially in large states like New York ( Steele, Parker, & Lickel, 2015) . The federal government is also changing its law enforcement culture by decentralizing security services, incorporating technology in its intelligence services, weaponry science, and communication systems to fight the internet technology and proliferation of social media that terrorist groups are using in communication and selecting recruits. This is because the new era of terrorism requires a decentralized system of governance that cumulatively collects more information and equally distributes skilled manpower across the nation. 

For America to control the rising cases of suicide terrorism, the federal government needs to involve human intelligence services and the technology agencies to look into the issue ( Hellmuth, 2015) . Some philosophers have argued that the government should create employment for youths to reduce the frustration of unemployment that drives them to seek crude ways of looking for money such as joining terrorism ( Rasmussen, 2015) . The government has been commended for striving to educate the general public about the importance of reporting any suspicious people or activities to the relevant authorities. This has been achieved by using the social media and family television stations to enlighten Americans about the indicators of terrorism ( Hellmuth, 2015) . The government should come up with programs that will encourage citizens to report terror suspects. This includes giving incentives to people who report potential terrorist suspects or those who help the security personnel to find weapons of mass destruction before being used for the intended purposes. 

References 

Hellmuth, D. (2015). Counterterrorism and the State: Western Responses to 9/11 . University of Pennsylvania Press. 

Meleagrou-Hitchens, A., & Hughes, S. (2017). The Threat to the United States from the Islamic State’s Virtual Entrepreneurs. CTC Sentinel , 10 (3). 

Obama, B. (2014). Remarks by the president at the United States Military Academy commencement ceremony. Speech, West Point, NY, May , 28 . 

Rasmussen, N. J. (2015). Current Terrorist Threat to the United States. Hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence , 12 . 

Steele, R. R., Parker, M. T., & Lickel, B. (2015). Bias within because of threat from outside: The effects of an external call for terrorism on anti-Muslim attitudes in the United States. Social Psychological and Personality Science , 6 (2), 193-200.