The SMA DHS CAOE speaker session presents Dr. Skye Cooley (Oklahoma State University) and Dr. Robert Hinck (Monmouth College) who will deliver a short talk titled “Contextualizing the Gray Rhino: The Central American ‘Cycle of Violence’ as a Catalyst to Migration” on Friday 13 December 2019 from 1300-1400 ET.

This is the second speaker session of SMA’s new series, co-hosted by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Office of University Programs (OUP) and the Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency (CAOE) at Arizona State University. The series is titled “The Age of Disruption – Great Power Competition Implications for Homeland Security.”

The speakers use Northern Triangle media perspectives on the issue of migration as a reference point to contextualize the larger system disruptions taking place within Guatemala, Honduras, & El Salvador. The scope of the underlying catalysts to migration are presented along with discussions on amplifying factors like US immigration policies and the harrowing effects of the migration journey itself. Ultimately, regional solutions and cooperations are needed to address the system failures propelling the Gray Rhino threats of the Northern Triangle. Migration, as the most visible consequence of Northern Triangle system failures, is presented as a starting point for greater regional cooperation.