For the past four decades, the United States has given only passing attention to the growing instability in Latin America. Today, this ignorance has resulted in a threat to our national security that is greater than that posed by bin Laden. Hugo Chavez, with the assistance of Cuba, Iran and Russia, now possesses the ability to do what bin Laden has been threatening, that is, destroy the U.S.

In this feature the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals (IACSP) asks New Jersey Homeland Security Director Richard L. Cañas a number of questions about, among other subjects, his office's mission, the role of intelligence in counterterrorism, and the role of police officers in homeland security and counterterrorism.

By analyzing how the linguistic roots of the term "al-Qaeda" are used in the Quran, Ayman Wasfy, who among his other accomplishments is an expert Arabic linguist, has determined a fundamentally easy way to defeat Al-Qaeda around the globe. And that is, tell people what the term really means.

In this article, Admiral Thad W. Allen, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, examines the potential exploitation of small vessels by terrorists, and smugglers of weapons of mass destruction, narcotics, illegal aliens and other contraband. The article was cited by Mr. M. Robert Gauvin, Technical Advisor in the USCG Office of Vessel Activities during his featured presentation, "Implementing the Small Vessel Security Strategy", at the IDGA 7th Annual Maritime Homeland Security Summit in April 2009.

This is reprinted here from U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) Proceedings with permission; Copyright © 2008 U.S. Naval Institute at www.usni.org.

In this article, Don L. Rondeau, President, CEO and Board Member of Total Security Services International, Inc. (TSSI) presents a look at how America's shifting foreign policy from a war environment to a post-war/humanitarian effort will require a complementary shift in how the security industry, the government, and non-governmental aid organizations address the safety and security of relief workers and diplomats in the world's conflict zones.

In this article from the latest Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International, James Casey, who is the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Jacksonville Field Office, briefly reviews the pros and cons of the United States establishing a domestic security and intelligence service along the lines of Great Britain's MI-5.

Stuart Flynn, vice president business development at global maritime security service provider, Securewest International, weighs in on the all-important question of how to best combat piracy and further protect vulnerable commercial maritime assets.

In this piece, technology writer David Gewirtz explores what he sees as an inevitable cyberwar looming on America's horizon. He delves into how this conflict might play out, the types of enemies the nation faces and some of the weapons they will employ, and why America is vulnerable.

This article focuses on the accomplishments of the U.S. Army's 89th Military Police Brigade in Iraq, and its primary mission to develop the Iraqi police force and improve its overall capability through a partnership program focused on training and equipping the force.

In this feature, Joseph Myers writes about the lexicon of the war on Islamist terrorism, and how recent U.S. policy changes establishing a new "speech code" for the war show a fundamental misunderstanding by policy makers of the enemy, its motivation and its mission.