States & Localities

The Lawfare Podcast: Juliette Kayyem on the Baltimore Bridge Collapse and Crisis Management

Matt Gluck, Juliette Kayyem, Jen Patja
Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 8:00 AM
How should the government react to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse?

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In the early morning on March 26, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. The bridge collapsed, resulting in the death of six of the eight individuals conducting maintenance on the bridge. The incident has disrupted commuter traffic and the transport of hazardous materials, and it has halted shipping traffic at the Port of Baltimore, among other effects.

Lawfare Research Fellow Matt Gluck discussed the bridge’s collapse, how authorities responded to it, and what it all means for the resilience of U.S. critical infrastructure and the state of crisis response with Juliette Kayyem, a professor of international security at the Harvard Kennedy School—who recently wrote a book on disaster management. Was the bridge adequately protected? How should governments and the private sector prepare to both prevent crises, but perhaps more importantly, prepare for the aftermath when they inevitably occur? 

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Matt Gluck is a research fellow at Lawfare. He holds a BA in government from Dartmouth College.
Juliette Kayyem is the former assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Homeland Security and served on the DHS Homeland Security Advisory Committee. She is author of the book, “The Devil Never Sleeps.”
Jen Patja is the editor and producer of the Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security. She currently serves as the Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics, a nonprofit organization that empowers the next generation of leaders in Virginia by promoting constitutional literacy, critical thinking, and civic engagement. She is the former Deputy Director of the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier and has been a freelance editor for over 20 years.

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