Homeland security refers to the mechanisms and effort put by the American government to curb terrorist attacks within its border, reduce the chances of the terrorist attacks to the US and abate any possible destruction that might arise from such attacks. In a way, Homeland security also incorporates the national security given that it works with the organs of national power to offer protection to the domestic citizens, sovereignty of the people, significant infrastructure, and the US territory.

The primary stakeholders of homeland security include the government agencies and entities. These agencies are the 187 federal agencies and departments. Some of them include United States National Guard, United States Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S Customs and Border Protection, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, US Secret Service and 14 agencies in charge of intelligence, the Civil Air Patrol. The intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI seem to play a peripheral role in the homeland security given that they are not part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Currently, the Department of Homeland Security is in charge of homeland security. This is an expansive and involving docket that needs proper organization thus should just be under one department. Given the complexity of the issues the department handles, input of citizens, state legislators and federal stakeholders is necessary to realize the concerted effort. Therefore, the department should be able to give directions but treat information given to it by citizens and other stakeholders as intelligence.

There is thin a line or little difference between homeland security and emergency management given that their scopes are related. In both, their roles seek to respond to emergencies and ultimately assist the state or the affected parties recover from the consequences of these emergencies. The difference in the two is seen whereas in emergency management there are mechanisms put in place to curb any likelihood of an emergency occurring which goes beyond the scope of terrorist attacks. On the other hand, Homeland Security is more concentrated on the issues to do with security and do not cover other hazards. In order to have a stable country where the citizens have confidence in their governments, there is a need to have the two areas fully functional. The operations of emergency management department and that of homeland security must be effective and in synch for smooth and better executions of their mandate.