Our current system for homeland security does not provide the necessary framework to manage the challenges posed by 21^st-Century catastrophic threats.
The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina–Lessons Learned

The White House (2006, 52)

Crises in the twenty-first century differ—structurally—from those we had to deal with in the last century. Crises of the twentieth century were traditionally defined and handled as a combination of “threat, urgency, and uncertainty.” Today, crises are better described in terms of a destruction of vital references and a dynamic of systemic implosions. If crises were once a type of severe, dynamic accident, they are now the essential mode of life in our hypercomplex systems. These transboundary crises mark a watershed between mind-sets and tools of the past, and the new strategic landscape that we are now in. The intellectual and governance challenges are extreme. But looking back is not an option. It is vital to forge new routes into Terrae Incognitae. The goal of this article is to help build (1) a renewed understanding of the emerging challenges we face; and (2) a better strategic response to these systemic dislocations.

References

Allen, T. (2008). Hurricane Katrina: Framing the issue–A weapon of mass destruction without criminal dimension. Video-taped communication to Hans De Smet, Department of Economics, Management & Leadership, Royal Military Academy, Brussels.
Google Scholar
Auerswald, P. H., Brancomb, L. M., LaPorte, T. M., & Michel-Kerjan, E. (Eds.) (2006). Seeds of disaster, roots of response: How private action can reduce public vulnerability. New York: Cambridge University Press.
10.1017/CBO9780511509735
Google Scholar
Barry, J. M. (2004). The great influenza: The epic story of the deadliest plague in history. New York: Penguin Books.
Google Scholar
Bergreen, L. (2004). Over the edge of the world: Magellan's terrifying circumnavigation of the globe. New York: Harper Perennial.
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Bernstein, P. L. (1996). Against the gods: The remarkable story of risk. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Google Scholar
Béroux, P., Guilhou, X., & Lagadec, P. (2007). Implementing rapid reflection forces. Crisis Response, 3(2), 36–37.
Google Scholar
Béroux, P., Guilhou, X., & Lagadec, P. (2008). Rapid reflection forces put to the reality test. Crisis Response, 4(2), 38–40.
Google Scholar
Boin, A., Lagadec, P., Michel-Kerjan, E., & Overdijk, W. (2003). Critical infrastructures under threat: Learning from the anthrax scare. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 11(3), 99–104.
10.1111/1468-5973.1103001
Google Scholar
Boin, A., & McConnell, A. (2007). Preparing for critical infrastructure breakdowns: The limits of crisis management and the need for resilience. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 15(1), 50–59.
10.1111/j.1468-5973.2007.00504.x
Google Scholar
Cabinet Office. (2008). The national security strategy of the United Kingdom: Security in an interdependent world. London: HMSO.
Google Scholar
Cukier, K. (2005). Critical information infrastructure protection: Ensuring (and insuring?) critical information infrastructure protection. A Report of the 2005 Rueschlikon Conference on Information Policy, The Rueschlikon Conferences, in Cooperation with Swiss Re Center for Global Dialogue.
Google Scholar
Dwyer, J., & Flynn, K. (2006). 102 minutes: The untold story of the fight to survive inside the Twin Towers. New York: Times Books Henry Holt and Company.
Google Scholar
Frémont, C. (2004). Governance and responsibility in a chaotic world. Personal video-taped communication.
Google Scholar
Giuliani, R. W. (2002). Leadership. New York: Miramax Books.
Google Scholar
Granatt, M. (2004). Complexity crises: Never fight the last war. Personal video-taped communication.
Google Scholar
Granatt, M., & Lagadec, P. (2005). Ethics for media commentators. Crisis Response Journal, 2(1), 36–37.
Google Scholar
Hamilton, L. H. (2006). Prologue. In T. H. Kean & L. H. Hamilton (Eds.), Without precedent: The inside story of the 9/11 Commission. New York: Alfred A. Knoff.
Google Scholar
Home Office. (2006). Addressing lessons from the emergency response to the 7 July 2005 London bombings: What we learned and what we are doing about it. London: HMSO.
Google Scholar
Kissinger, H. (1982). Years of upheaval. Boston: Little, Brown & Company.
Google Scholar
Klinenberg, E. (2002). Heat wave: A social autopsy of disaster in Chicago. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
10.7208/chicago/9780226026718.001.0001
Google Scholar
Kuhn, T. (1962). The structure of scientific revolution. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Google Scholar
Lagadec, E. (2007). Unconventional crises: Unconventional responses reforming leadership in the age of catastrophic crises and hypercomplexity. Center for Transatlantic Relations, The Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC.
Google Scholar
Lagadec, P. (2004). Understanding the French 2003 heat wave experience: Beyond the heat, a multi-layered challenge. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 12(4), 160–169.
10.1111/j.0966-0879.2004.00446.x
Google Scholar
Lagadec, P. (2006). Crisis management in the twenty-first century: “Unthinkable” events in “unthinkable” contexts. In H. Rodriguez, E. L. Quarantelli, & R. Dynes (Eds.), Handbook of disaster research (pp. 489–507). New York: Springer.
10.1007/978-0-387-32353-4_30
Google Scholar
Lagadec, P. (2007). Over the edge of the world. Crisis Response Journal, 3(4), 48–49.
Google Scholar
Lagadec, P., Michel-Kerjan, E., & Ellis, R. N. (2006). Disaster via airmail: The launching of a global reaction capacity after the 2001 anthrax attacks. Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, 1(3), 99–117.
10.1162/itgg.2006.1.3.99
Google Scholar
LaPorte, T. R. (1994). A state of the field: Increasing relative ignorance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 4(1), 5–15.
Google Scholar
LaPorte, T. R. (2007a). Critical infrastructure in the face of a predatory future: Preparing for untoward surprise. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 15(1), 60–64.
10.1111/j.1468-5973.2007.00505.x
Google Scholar
LaPorte, T. R. (2007b). Anticipating rude surprises: Reflections on “crisis management” without end. In L. Jones (Ed.), Communicable crises: Prevention, management and resolution in the global arena (pp. 27–46). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Lincoln, A. (1862). Annual message to Congress, December 1, 1862. In The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, ed. Roy P. Basler, vol. 5, p. 537.
Google Scholar
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (2004). The 9/11 Commission Report. New York: Norton.
Google Scholar
OECD. (2003). Emerging risks in the 21st century: An agenda for action. Paris: OECD.
10.1787/9789264101227-en
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Perrow, C. (1984). Normal accidents: Living with high-risk technologies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Google Scholar
Perrow, C. (2007). The next catastrophe: Reducing our vulnerabilities to natural, industrial, and terrorist disasters. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Google Scholar
Phillips of Worth Matravers (Lord), Bridgeman, J., & Ferguson-Smith, M. (2000). The BSE Inquiry. London: HMSO.
Google Scholar
Quarantelli, E. L., Lagadec, P., & Boin, A. (2006). A heuristic approach to future disasters and crises: New, old and in-between types. In R. Dynes, H. Quarantelli, & H. Rodriguez (Eds.), Handbook of disaster research (pp. 16–41). New York: Springer.
10.1007/978-0-387-32353-4_2
Google Scholar
Sunzi. (1999). The art of war. Beijing: Library of Chinese Classics, Foreign Languages Press.
Google Scholar
Taleb, N. N. (2007). The black swan: The impact of the highly improbable. London: Penguin Books.
Google Scholar
The White House. (2006). The federal response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons learned. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Google Scholar
Tuchman, B. W. (1984). The march of folly: From Troy to Vietnam. New York: Ballantine Books.
Google Scholar
U.S.–Canada Power System Outage Task Force. (2004). Final report on the August 14, 2003 blackout in the United States and Canada: Causes and recommendations. Retrieved May 11, 2009, from https://reports.energy.gov/BlackoutFinal-Web.pdf
Google Scholar
U.S. House of Representatives. (2006). A failure of initiative: Final report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to investigate the preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Google Scholar
Young, J. (2007). Leadership in the age of unconventional crises and chaotic environment. Personal video-taped communication.
Google Scholar

Citing Literature

Volume26, Issue4

July 2009

Pages 473-486

A New Cosmology of Risks and Crises: Time for a Radical Shift in Paradigm and Practice

Abstract

References

Citing Literature

References

Information

About Wiley Online Library

Help & Support

Opportunities

Connect with Wiley

A New Cosmology of Risks and Crises: Time for a Radical Shift in Paradigm and Practice

Abstract

References

Citing Literature

References

Related

Information