Pictured is Austen Givens
(Utica, NY – May 2014) Austen D. Givens, homeland and cybersecurity expert at Utica College and Nathan E. Busch, associate professor of government at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. have released a new book titled The Business of Counterterrorism: Public-Private Partnerships in Homeland Security.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the United States created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to guard against the possibility of future terrorist attacks. Today the DHS forges working partnerships with businesses across the country to perform its many functions, including critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, information sharing, port-of-entry security and emergency management. The book examines the advantages, opportunities, obstacles and challenges of these private-public relationships, such as the DHS’s collaboration with other private and public entities in 2010 after the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Authors Nathan Busch and Austen Givens offer compelling testimony to the value of public-private partnerships and specific direction as to ‘where’ and ‘how’ this collaboration has the greatest security impact,” said Tom Ridge, former Secretary of Homeland Security and Governor of Pennsylvania. “This is a must-read for Congressional leaders, business executives and academics who are concerned about the future safety of our nation.”
At Utica College, Givens teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in areas such as cybersecurity, homeland security, and counterterrorism, and has authored numerous articles on homeland and international security issues. He is completing a Ph.D. at King’s College London.
Busch also co-directs the Center for American Studies at Christopher Newport University. He has written several books, articles, and reports on international security issues and weapons of mass destruction. Busch earned a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto and has held research fellowships at Harvard University and the University of Georgia.