Beyond Chinese Spy Balloons: Why We Need to Teach East Asian Studies in U.S. Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Programs

1 Current State of HSEP Undergraduate Curriculum

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks fueled the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and subsequently a higher education infrastructure built around intelligence and counter-terrorism. The “War on Terror” led to the establishment of HSEP undergraduate programs in many public policy schools and institutes, which prepared students for a variety of careers in military, emergency management, cyber, intelligence, and other homeland security-related professions.

Thus, the programs have overwhelmingly focused on the Islamist terrorism threat emanating from the Middle East and North Africa. However, the terrorism threat to the U.S. homeland has now largely shifted to domestic far-right extremism and away from radical Islamic extremism (Mirof 2021). In addition, U.S. foreign policy and grand strategy has increasingly focused on great power competition with short-term revisionist threat, Russia, and the long-term global competitor, China. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has unfortunately shown the world that large-scale conventional wars are not a relic of the past. Similarly, China’s increasingly revanchist claims over Taiwan has also worried U.S. geopolitical planners and strategists. Finally, North Korea’s rapid nuclear weapons development has also strained U.S. security interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

Ramsay, Cutrer, and Raffel (2010) identified eight core academic areas for homeland security undergraduate programs: intelligence, law and policy, emergency management, risk analysis, critical infrastructure, strategic planning, terrorism, and environmental security. I propose that we add an additional core academic area of “state actor threats.” This broad category would include geopolitical challenges to U.S. homeland security, such as those from China and North Korea. It would prepare future homeland security professional with historical and politico-cultural knowledge of the major national threats to the U.S. homeland. In other words, U.S. homeland security should not be siloed off from broader international security issues. The COVID pandemic clarified the degree to which domestic situations in mainland China, especially ones mishandled by the Chinese government, can have severe repercussions and consequences for the U.S. homeland.

Based on an investigation of the course catalogues at three reputable HSEP bachelors degree programs (SUNY Albany, the University of New Hampshire, and George Washington University), I conclude that HSEP educators and instructors should re-evaluate the existing “War on Terror” curriculum and re-imagine the future threats posed to the U.S. homeland from state actors.

SUNY Albany’s undergraduate degree program in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity is unique as it belongs to a college with the same name. In addition, as the name implies, cybersecurity is emphasized as a critical component of the threat environment. The course catalogue reveals an updated and sophisticated curriculum. However, even the offered electives reflect a curriculum that is decidedly non-Asia related. Meanwhile, the University of New Hampshire’s undergraduate curriculum offers some unique required courses, such as “Fundamentals of Corporate Security” and “Environmental and Human Security.” Nonetheless, there are no Asia-related courses offered there too. Finally, George Washington University’s Bachelor of Professional Studies in Homeland Security is a dynamic program that offers a core course in “Combating Domestic Terrorism.” Despite George Washington University’s strengths in East Asian studies provided through the Elliot School of International Affairs and Columbian College of Arts and Science, the homeland security program does not utilize those courses in its core or elective offerings.

These three programs largely focus their core courses on combatting international terrorism, addressing cyber threats, intelligence collection and analysis, and emergency management. The offering of environmental security courses reveals a proactive approach to the problems from ongoing global warming and climate change events. Given our interconnected digital word and the rise of cybercrime, there is also an increased interest in cyber security and computer crime investigations amongst these three programs. However, the programs seem to be locked into a post-9/11 mentality where the dominant threat actors are seen as non-state actors. The threat environment and security landscape is now more multifaceted, state-centric, and increasingly China-focused. Therefore, homeland security programs should look beyond the “war on terror” paradigm and reinvigorate their curriculum for a changing world.

2 Security Threats Posed to U.S. Homeland from China and North Korea

China’s increasingly belligerent and coercive actions around the world has alarmed U.S. policymakers and intelligence professionals, including here on the U.S. homeland. Furthermore, the potentiality of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would likely cause a catastrophic financial crisis around the world, including here in the U.S. As FBI director Wray (2020) explained, “The greatest long-term threat to our nation’s information and intellectual property, and to our economic vitality, is the counterintelligence and economic espionage threat from China.” The Chinese Communist Party’s desire to revise the international rules-based order is not only a foreign policy issue but also one that affects our own domestic institutions and economic interests. The homeland security threats from China primarily lie in the cyber and espionage domains.

Chinese cyber attacks on U.S. private companies are leading to massive intellectual property (IP) theft and the weakening of the national economy. According to a report published in 2018 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the United States economy has suffered losses of approximately $600 billion over a span of more than 20 years due to Chinese economic espionage and IP theft (Lewis 2018). In addition, Chinese cyber attacks on our democratic institutions, such as our election infrastructure, is concerning. In 2020, White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said, “China – like Russia, like Iran – they’ve engaged in cyberattacks and phishing and that sort of thing with respect to our election infrastructure, with respect to websites and that sort of thing (Reuters 2020).” Protecting our critical economic and governmental networks from cyber intrusions by China is crucial from both financial and political standpoints. It is essential for upholding national economic security, the rule of law, and democratic principles in the United States.

Chinese espionage has also occurred away from the cyber domain and into physical spaces. For example, in 2016, Chinese citizen Mo Hailong was found digging in an Iowa cornfield stealing genetically modified seeds from U.S. agricultural corporations (Wilber 2016). This type of economic espionage damages U.S. economic interests and long-term food security. In addition, the COVID pandemic revealed the extent to which the U.S. is reliant on Chinese markets for supplies of vital emergency equipment, such as medicine, masks, and other medical supplies. Shifting these supply chains to the U.S. mainland or to stable U.S. allied nations and away from China is critical for emergency preparedness and mitigating geopolitical risk factors in times of crisis.

3 Teaching About East Asia in Homeland Security Education

During the COVID pandemic, incidents of anti-Asian racism skyrocketed across the United States (Huang et al. 2023). In addition, the increasingly anti-China rhetoric from U.S. politicians has become one of the bipartisan unifiers during a period of otherwise immense political polarization on many other issues. Therefore, it is imperative that we educate the next generation of homeland security professionals with a complex and non-superficial understanding of China. By focusing on Chinese history, culture, and politics, we can provide students with a nuanced and dynamic framework of interpreting the Chinese security challenge.

The history and culture of China factors greatly in the CCP’s worldview. The desire to reunify Taiwan with the Chinese mainland is of paramount historical importance to the Chinese leadership. In addition, the nineteenth and twentieth century “national humiliation” of China by Western imperialist powers is continuously brought up in CCP official rhetoric as a reason for “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Historical injustices and perceived slights at Chinese culture by Western nations animates many of the contemporary Chinese government’s actions. Moreover, popular American understanding of North Korea is largely limited to caricatures of the Kim family leadership. A deeper explanation of Korean history and culture is necessary for understanding why the two Koreas are the way they are. In addition, the dominant image of Kim Jong Un in U.S. culture as a chubby non-threatening leader does not square with the increasingly sophisticated cyber and military threats emanating from North Korea.

Unfortunately, undergraduate students often misinterpret or Orientalize the Chinese and North Korean governments’ policies and external actions. One of the reasons for this is the limited background knowledge they receive about East Asia in their high school social studies programs. Secondly, East Asia is typically framed as a bizarre, strange, and completely foreign entity in American culture and media. This Orientalist lens of East Asia in broader U.S. society contributes to problematic stereotypes and an extremely shallow understanding of the region amongst many undergraduate students. Cultural competence should be at the forefront of the “state actor threats” area in homeland security education programs. By putting cultural competency at the forefront of this “state actor threats” educational area, we provide the next generation of homeland security professionals with the skills and abilities to respond dynamically and proactively to external threats from abroad.

4 Suggestions

The inclusion of a “state actor threats” academic area into homeland security education may seem daunting to some instructors, especially those themselves that lack a sophisticated understanding of international affairs. However, homeland security’s interdisciplinary approach can be helpful for this initiative. By leveraging existing political science, area studies, and history courses, homeland security programs can include more elective courses that cover this topic. Moreover, existing courses on terrorism, cyber security policy, and intelligence can include lecture(s) or unit(s) that cover the state actor threat and delve deeper into East Asian affairs. For example, instructors for terrorism-related courses can pose a lesson around whether China should be on the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list. This lesson could focus on China’s long history of human rights violations and the ways in which the CCP leverages its political and economic power abroad. Additionally, students in cyber-related homeland security courses can learn about the unique ways that North Korean hackers evade international sanctions and generate revenue for the regime via cybercrime and other illicit activities. In conclusion, the inclusion of East Asian subjects into homeland security education is a bold undertaking but it is imperative given the reality of our increasingly interconnected global security environment where viral pathogens, online data, and spy balloons know no borders or boundaries.