In the last month those 'crazy-eyed hurricanes' Katrina and Rita have taken up much of our focus on international homeland security and resilience, and have offered an attractive target for visceral anti-Americanism for rather too many on this side of the Atlantic (most of whom should know better). Yet more attractive has been the opportunity for many Americans, as welt as outsiders, to take a poke at President George W Bush. I wonder if the British resilience capability would stand up well if tested to breaking point? Has it been tested for real? How would we cope with multiple, dispersed and sustained terrorist attacks of different types? Would our under-nourished NHS cope well with a nasty flu pandemic? How robust are London's flood defences against a storm-driven tidal surge of once-in-a-century severity (the sort that has a habit of occurring rather more frequently). Nevertheless, there will be lessons to be learned in the United States, and questions to be asked. Some of them may be applicable in Britain.
展开▼
