Analysis of Major Terrorist Disasters Affecting the U.S.(1988-2001)

Claire B. Rubin & Associates, Arlington VA

Investigators

Abstract

Since September 11, 2001, major efforts are underway in the U.S. to update and improve emergency management capabilities, plans, and practices in order to deal with terrorism. Therefore, it is timely and important to critically analyze and connect past major disaster events and their outcomes. This project will document recent major defining terrorist events and the emergency management infrastructure of laws, regulations, practices, and expert systems that have evolved, during the period 1988-2001. This systematic examination of recent terrorist events and their outcomes will lay the groundwork for educators and practitioners seeking to understand past events and their outcomes and contribute to more informed decision-making in the future. The approach will be to: ? Systematically identify and analyze major defining events and document them in a narrative chronology; ? Identify and describe the major outcomes from each defining event, including (a) reports and studies; (b) legislation and regulations; and (c) policies, program and organizational changes; and ? Describe the causal relationships between the events and their major outcomes, to the extent that the information collected allows. The final products of this six-month effort will include professional papers and journal articles. Also, the products will be available on a project website.