Item Details
Skip Navigation Links
   ActiveUsers:4069Hits:20931506Skip Navigation Links
Show My Basket
Contact Us
IDSA Web Site
Ask Us
Today's News
HelpExpand Help
Advanced search

In Basket
  Journal Article   Journal Article
 

ID185072
Title ProperNormalizing counterinsurgency in the United States
Other Title Information first responders as the first line of defense
LanguageENG
AuthorValayden, Diren
Summary / Abstract (Note)In this article, I elaborate on the thesis that counterinsurgency has become a ‘new governing paradigm’ in the United States. I first argue that the DoD redefinition of terrorism blurred the conceptual boundaries between counterterrorism and counterinsurgency, to ease the latter’s transition from the field of military strategy to that of political governance. Second, I argue that counterinsurgency became a governing paradigm, based on political techniques that worked through the subjective capabilities of the population. After 9/11, those capabilities were associated with the first responder. I trace the conceptual evolution of the first responder as a technical category in the discourse and administration of public safety, to its re-emergence in the concept of homeland security after 9/11. I argue that the political architecture created by homeland security emphasized the awareness, preparedness and resilience of the first responder who was in turn defined as the first line of defense against potential attacks. Through the first responder, counterinsurgency achieves its fundamental goal: to prevent social transformation by securing societal ‘normalcy’. Lastly, I argue that, as a governing paradigm, counterinsurgency provides a frame of interpretation to understand and categorize social experience: a first responders/insurgents schism now guides how we interpret political divisions.
`In' analytical NoteSmall Wars and Insurgencies Vol. 33, No.4-5; Jun-Jul 2022: p.673-692
Journal SourceSmall Wars and Insurgencies Vol: 33 No 4-5
Key WordsCounterinsurgency ;  Counterterrorism ;  Homeland Security ;  Governance ;  Public Safety ;  Situational Awareness ;  First Responder


 
 
Media / Other Links  Full Text