EM5180

This course focuses on the security of the Marine Transportation System (MTS). Ninety five percent of all U.S. imports and exports are carried by sea aboard ships via hundreds of ports. From the ports, the cargo is then taken to thousands of destinations via air and land transporta- tion modes (e.g., airline, truck, and rail), thus fueling the U.S. economic engine. These sea, air, and land transportation modes, with the port as their hub, make up the MTS. The MTS is critical to our national and economic security and significant legislation and many national policy documents have been produced to secure the system from terrorism. What have we accomplished and will we succeed? To address these questions, the course will briefly review current U.S. homeland security issues. Students will then examine terrorist threats to the MTS and the legal and policy responses to those threats, including U.S. efforts to carry out the daunting task of securing the global supply chain at sea and overseas.