AMERICA'S THREE DOMESTIC THREATS AND THE NEED FOR A REFORM OF DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE

The United States today faces three big threats domestically: Jihadist terrorism, Alt-Right terrorism, and great power competition (GPC), which can be characterized from a homeland security perspective as 'great power incursion.' Instead of focusing their efforts on a single threat, such as the Soviet Union during the Cold War or Al-Qaeda right after 9/11, the current homeland intelligence structure consisting of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) law enforcement agencies now must focus attention on multiple threats simultaneously. Jihadist terrorism, Alt-Right terrorism, or great power incursion could target the American homeland at any one time, and present DHS, FBI, and SLTT resources may not be enough to effectively combat them all. Under these circumstances, this thesis examines the following research question: In light of these dynamic homeland security threats, is there a need for a new, purely domestic intelligence service in the United States? This thesis discusses these threats and analyzes the current DHS, FBI, and SLTT law enforcement postures toward them. The research conducted for this thesis suggests that the current domestic intelligence agencies are not able to address this new confluence of threats sufficiently. Although no single, new domestic intelligence agency is needed, significant reform is necessary.Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. distribution is unlimite