Fear itself: emotions drive many homeland security decisions, scholars say.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: SECURITY BEAT: HOMELAND DEFENSE BRIEFS

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* When it comes to spending funds on the nation's security, the U.S. government must make risk-based decisions, but should they be based on logic or emotions?

There is a small, but increasingly vocal group of scholars who study the psychology of risk, who are questioning the government's homeland security decisions since 9/11.

Movies and media make rare things seem common place. For example: a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. They are in fact such uncommon occurrences that there isn't much data to draw upon, said Bruce Schneier, a security consultant and author of "Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World."

"A movie is much more salient to us than dry data," he said at a Cato Institute conference examining where homeland security should go in the new administration.

"We area species of storytellers," he said. "We respond to stories."

Schneier said since the government does not have the resources to guard against every threat, it must make risk-based decisions on where to put its dollars.

Too often, it chases after "movie plot threats," he said. Politicians need to appear as it they are "doing something."

Emotional decisions often drive the budget, he said.

"The agenda of the government is to overestimate the threat," he said.

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