| Abstract: | 2001年美國遭受911恐怖攻擊以來，美國一直追捕賓拉登等基地組織領導人，終於十年之際，國軍方透過中央情報局，在數月的監控掌握下追蹤到並擊斃賓拉登。縱使，不可否認的，恐怖主義竄行全球，並成為造成世界局勢不安定的一個很重要的因素。
而911事件的衝擊與挑戰，導致美國國家安全戰略思維有很大的改變，國土安全成為其國家安全政策的優先議題。毫無疑問，這起恐怖事件，將對美國民眾、社會、政治、經濟，以及未來的國際戰略重心，都將形成深遠的影響。布希政府不但重新檢討其全球戰略安全部署，更是成立了國土安全部。
本論文將從恐怖主義開始探討，並概述恐怖主義之發展及分析其對國家安全的影響，說明國土安全部的運作機制以及其探討面臨之問題。這個由十七萬人，來自九個不同部門(農業、商業、國防、能源、衛生、人類服務部、司法部、國務院、運輸部、財政部)，設置費用就高達四百億美元的國土安全部；成立至今，國土安全部內部尚有待探討解決的問題，國土安全部應該必須重新審核國土安全結構，從多方面的考量重整、修改，才能達成其最初的目的，以及發揮最大的功用。
Since struck by 911 Terrorist Attacks in 2001, the U.S. had been hunting leaders of Al Qaeda such as Osama bin Laden; in ten years, by the help of CIA, and under months of surveillance, the Military finally shot Bin Laden. Undeniably, terrorism has haunted the world and been a vital factor in global instability.
The challenge of 911 caused big changes in strategy of US national security, and homeland security has been prior to any other issues of national security policy. Undoubtedly, the affair would lead to profound impact on American citizens, society, politics, economy, and strategy in international relations. The Bush Administration had reviewed its strategic deployment and established the Department of Homeland Security.
This thesis begins with the discussion of terrorism; then, it would elaborate the development of terrorism and analyze its effect to national security in order to describe the operation of DHS and problems it is confronting. United States Department of Homeland Security is composed of one-hundred and seventeen thousand members and nine different departments (Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Justice, State Department, Department of Transportation, and Department of the Treasury), and it cost 40 billion dollars for the establishment. Until now, it still has interior problems to solve. The department has to recount the homeland security structure by reconstruction and modification on multiple aspects to obtain its original purpose, and make the best of itself. |
