The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook takes a broad view of the challenges involved in enhancing domestic security and emergency preparedness. Our goal is to contribute to the discussion of this national issue and heighten readers' awareness of the importance of integrating policies, strategies, and initiatives across different areas into a cohesive national and international effort.The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject for university students, policy makers, and industry professionals.

The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook has several important features:

• The text provides extensive thematic coverage, encompassing analysis of al-Qaida and related terrorist threats, and of homeland security as part of the United States' response.
• There are more than 60 original chapters and case studies about a wide range of subjects, providing an opportunity to understand how homeland security challenges are interconnected.
• The book is the first in the literature to combine such a comprehensive array of topics, creating a basis for a shared understanding of homeland security.
• The contributors include distinguished members of Congress; senior federal, state, and local government officials; industry professionals; and academics, many of whom combine theory with practical experience in homeland security and are active in educating the next generation of national security leaders.
• The book includes chapters on practical matters and chapters that present theoretical models and concepts.

Several assumptions underlie the selection of chapters. First, although homeland security and national preparedness now encompass "all hazards," including events such as natural disasters, the focus of the book is on terrorism and security, areas where an understanding of the human element of the terrorist threat is critical. Second, with or without Usama bin Ladin as its leader, al-Qaida and radical fundamentalist Islam will remain a threat. An entire section is devoted to understanding this dominant terror threat to the United States. Third, regardless of specific types of attacks and the affiliation of their perpetrators, many of the principal missions and challenges that homeland security policy makers, operational managers, and analysts face will remain the same.