Dara Kay Cohen
Experience
Dara Kay Cohen is a graduate student in political science at Stanford University and a fellow at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). Her fields are American politics and international relations, and she is currently studying the domestic political constraints on national security policy. She previously worked at the U.S. Department of Justice as a paralegal in the Counterterrorism Section and at the U.S. Embassy in London on terrorist financing issues. She received her A.B. in political science and philosophy with honors from Brown University in 2001. Cohen is the Research Assistant for the Relative Threat Assessment working group.
Fall 2007
"Color Bind: Lessons from the Failed Homeland Security Advisory System"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 2, volume 32
By Jacob N. Shapiro and Dara Kay Cohen
The United States' color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) has failed to motivate relevant actors to take costly protective measures in response to a terrorist alert, particularly after increases in the threat level appeared to be politically manipulated. The HSAS has neither shared relevant information regarding its alerts nor generated enough confidence in the government to convince the public to take necessary actions. An alternative trust-based alert system could succeed where HSAS has failed.
