- Also called:
- Hart-Rudman Commission or Hart-Rudman Task Force on Homeland Security
- Date:
- 1998 - present
- Areas Of Involvement:
- intelligence
- national security
- Related People:
- Gary Hart
- Warren Rudman
U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century
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What is the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century?
The U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (USCNS/21), also known as the Hart-Rudman Commission, was a congressional committee established in 1998 to evaluate U.S. national security requirements for the early 21st century.
The commission assessed emerging security threats and the capacity of the United States to respond, and it then offered suggestions for improvements. It operated under the premise that the U.S. would remain a dominant international presence and that reliance on fossil fuels and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction would continue.
The commission presented its final report in February 2001, which was later realized in the September 11 attacks.
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Why was the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century created?
The U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (USCNS/21), also known as the Hart-Rudman Commission, was a U.S. congressional committee created in 1998 to examine how to best ensure U.S. national security in the early 21st century.
The U.S. Department of Defense assigned the USCNS/21 the task of identifying emerging security threats and assessing America’s ability to respond to the changed environment after the end of the Cold War. It was also tasked with making recommendations to improve the country’s response to the new security environment. The commission issued its final report in February 2001.
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What topics did the commission study or review?
The U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (USCNS/21), also known as the Hart-Rudman Commission, was created in 1998 to determine how to best ensure U.S. national security in the 21st century. The commission studied emerging security threats and the ability of the U.S. to respond to changes in the security environment. It made recommendations to improve the country’s response to the new security environment.
The commission made assumptions regarding the U.S.'s continued international dominance, the reliance on fossil fuels, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It determined that the U.S. would be vulnerable to attacks within its borders and that military superiority would not entirely protect American citizens. The commission also concluded that advances in information and biotechnologies would create new security vulnerabilities and divide the world.
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Who were the members of this commission?
The U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century, also known as the Hart-Rudman Commission after its cochairs, U.S. Senators Gary Hart and Warren Rudman, was a U.S. congressional committee established in 1998.
The commission was tasked with identifying emerging security threats and assessing America’s ability to respond to the changed environment, and making recommendations to improve the country’s response to the new security environment.
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What were some important findings or recommendations made by the commission?
The U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (USCNS/21), also known as the Hart-Rudman Commission, was established in 1998 to evaluate and improve U.S. national security for the 21st century.
The commission concluded that the U.S. would become more vulnerable to attacks within its borders and that military superiority wouldn't completely protect American citizens. It also determined that advancements in information and biotechnologies would create new security vulnerabilities and potentially divide the world. The USCNS/21 foresaw that U.S. intelligence would face more challenging adversaries and that military interventions would occur in times of uncertain alliances.
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How did the commission’s work influence U.S. national security policies in the 21st century?
The U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (USCNS/21), also known as the Hart-Rudman Commission, was established in 1998 to evaluate U.S. national security for the early 21st century. The commission assessed emerging security threats and the country’s capacity to respond, and presented recommendations for improvement.
The commission's final report, issued in February 2001, foresaw that the U.S. would become increasingly vulnerable to attacks within its borders. It also predicted that U.S. intelligence would face more challenging adversaries and that even excellent intelligence would not prevent all surprises. The September 11 attacks validated many of the commission’s conclusions. Another commission, the 9-11 Commission, created to examine the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, based its report on a major reform of the U.S. intelligence community.
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U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (USCNS/21), U.S. congressional committee established in 1998 to examine how best to ensure U.S. national security in the first quarter of the 21st century. The U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (USCNS/21) became widely known as the Hart-Rudman Commission after its cochairs, U.S. Senators Gary Hart and Warren Rudman.
The U.S. Department of Defense, recognizing that domestic and international security environments had changed since the end of the Cold War, assigned the USCNS/21 the task of identifying emerging security threats, assessing America’s ability to respond to the changed environment, and making recommendations to improve the country’s response to the new security environment. The commission made 12 primary assumptions that it believed would remain true throughout the 25-year scope of the study. For example, the commission assumed that the United States would remain a dominant presence in the international community, that world energy consumption would continue to rely on fossil fuels, and that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction would continue.
Operating from these assumptions, the commission reached a number of conclusions. It determined, for example, that the United States would become increasingly vulnerable to hostile attack within its own borders and that the U.S. military superiority would not entirely protect American citizens. The commission also concluded that rapid advances in information and biotechnologies would create new vulnerabilities for U.S. security and that new technologies would divide the world as well as draw it together.
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Another conclusion of the commission was that the national security of all countries would be increasingly affected by the vulnerabilities of the evolving global economic infrastructure. Part of that conclusion was based on the assumption that energy would continue to have major strategic significance. The commission also found that all international borders would become more porous, and the sovereignty of states would come under pressure but endure. Still another conclusion of the commission was that some countries would continue to fragment and even fail, creating destabilizing effects on neighbouring states. The resulting foreign crises would be replete with atrocities and the deliberate terrorizing of civilian populations.
The commission foresaw that U.S. intelligence would face more challenging adversaries in the future and that even excellent intelligence would not prevent all surprises. Moreover, the commission predicted that the United States would be called on to intervene militarily in a time of uncertain alliances and with the prospect of fewer forward-deployed forces. The commission concluded its findings by stating that the emerging security environment in the first part of the 21st century would require different military and other national capabilities.
The commission issued its final report in February 2001. Only seven months later, many of the commission’s conclusions were realized in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.