From the SEAL Team Six raid on bin Laden's compound to tornados ripping through American cities, there have been more than enough reminders that there is a dangerous world out there. Recent research from the Heritage Foundation offers a number of remedies for keeping America safe, free, and prosperous.

Counting Our Lucky Stars

"39 Terror Plots Foiled Since 9/11: Examining Counterterrorism's Success Stories" updates previous Heritage research. Not only does this study provide a detailed accounting of all the "known" plots stopped since the September 11 attacks, the study identifies the counterterrorism tools that have proven the most effective in thwarting efforts to kill innocents on the American homeland. The report concludes, "Continuing America's success in fighting terrorism while preserving national prosperity and individual freedoms requires a dedication by Congress and the executive branch to risk-based security focused on information sharing and intelligence gathering."

Putting it All in Perspective

"Terror Trends: 40 Years' Data on International and Domestic Terrorism" offers a comprehensive and authoritative summary of one of the nation's most important national security challenges. This survey aggregates international data on global and domestic terrorism from the past 40 years. Combined with new intelligence, this data can better inform U.S. counterterrorism decisions and continue the process of delineating enhanced homeland security policies for the future.

Learning from Tragedy

As far as disasters go it is hard to think a more massive and complex catastrophe than the series of misfortunes that recently hit Japan. The massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011, and the following release of radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, represent one of the greatest disasters to strike the nation of Japan in recent memory. "The Great Eastern Japan Earthquake: Assessing Disaster Response and Lessons for the U.S" provides an initial assessment of the Japanese response in four critical areas. It suggests important lessons for the United States as it evaluates its own capacity to deal with catastrophes. These four critical areas are: (1)Preparedness and response; (2) Communicating the risk; (3) International assistance; (4)Critical infrastructure.