Emergency Response to Domestic Terrorism How Bureaucracies Reacted to the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing

On April 19, 1995 a bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Leaving 168 dead and 800 wounded, this shocking terrorist attack on US soil was a tragic and important event in American history. The reaction to the Oklahoma City bombing offers and excellent case study of the implementation of emergency response polices and practices after a major disaster.

Alethia Cook is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and the Assistant Director of the Security Studies Program at East Carolina University. Her recent research has focused on a very broad conceptualization of security, ranging from international threats and responses to emergency response. She has studied such topics as pandemic disease, nuclear and radiological terrorism, terror group decision-making, defense technology development, civil war dynamics, Iran's role in the international system, and the response to the 1-35W Bridge collapse in Minnesota. It is her belief that only such a multi-layered approach can make America more secure.