PROJECT UPDATES
Homeland Security Project / Security & Global Health Project The Homeland Security Project focuses on the unique challenges and choices around protecting the American homeland. The Security and Global Health Project advances research and public policy on critical health security threats.
Faculty Chair: Juliette Kayyem Research Director (Security and Global Health): Margaret Bourdeaux Project Coordinator: Tara Tyrrell (until May 2021)
A major output of 2021 was completion of the book, The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters, which is set for release in March 2022. Written by Juliette Kayyem, the book addresses many of the security challenges and crisis management recommendations tackled by the Homeland Security and Security and Global Health Projects this year. During 2021, the Homeland Security and Security and Global Health Projects welcomed four new fellows. All are security and global health experts who contributed their expertise to a range of homeland security and global health issues. Nate Bruggeman is a former Counselor to the Special Representative for Border Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security and Counselor to Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Steve Johnson is a technologist and entrepreneur focused on the borderless threat posed by artificial intelligence and the open internet. Chris Krebs is the former Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Under Secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Margaret Bourdeaux has conducted research focused on health systems in conflict-affected states and has worked with the Office of the Secretary of Defense Policy to analyze the U.S. Department of Defense’s global health programs. To continue student and public engagement, the Projects continued the Homeland Security Policy Paper Series and Speaker Series. Publications included a paper edited by Bruggeman that offers policy recommendations for the government to better engage with industry to protect critical infrastructure. Additional writing by Kayyem in The Atlantic and Foreign Affairs analyzed challenges facing the United States’ offensive cyber-action capacity,
26
strategies to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates, and processes involved in implementing vaccine mandates. Krebs engaged with students in discussions on the prospect for government regulation to address the spread of misinformation and disinformation and the need for solutions to persistent vulnerabilities in U.S. critical infrastructure. Kayyem hosted a roundtable with former U.S. Rep. Jane Harman regarding the practice of national security leadership in the face of political divisiveness. To fill an information gap stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Kayyem and Bourdeaux served as advisors to a number of organizations, including the National Governors Association, Partners in Health, and Building Trade Unions. Bourdeaux co-chaired the Digital Pandemic Response Working Group at the Berkman Klein Center and the Task Force on Medical Countermeasures R&D through the Program in Global Public Policy at HMS. Joined by Harvard graduate students and administrators, she led meetings with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Senate HELP Committee to discuss the Task Force’s MCMx proposal to reform the U.S. medical countermeasure development enterprise. Kayyem served on multiple task forces, including the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Preparing for the Next Pandemic. Project experts also worked with Harvard graduate schools on increasing public awareness around a number of COVID-related issues, such as Weaponizing Health Intelligence and Building a U.S. Health Intelligence Capability.
BELFER CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
