U.S. Homeland Defense Strategic Public Health: An Underutilized but Desperately Needed Concept

According to the National Intelligence Council (NIC) Global Trends 2040: A More Contested Word, the twenty-first-century international system will be directionless, chaotic, and volatile. In this world adrift, the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown that the international system is still a Hobbesian state of nature where nations, first and foremost, will protect and defend their interests at the expense of the common good. The COVID-19 pandemic was more than just a public health crisis; it was a crisis of sharp inequalities in public accessibility to public health economics and disproportionally impacted the developing world. In light of the wrack havoc caused by COVID-19, this article discusses an underutilized but much-needed concept of homeland defense strategic public health within the national security community. In the conclusion of this paper, several recommendations are made so the United States and the world are not caught unprepared and disorganized in handling another major catastrophic pandemic. The question is not whether another pandemic will occur but when. And it could be sooner rather than later.