Homeland and national security is one of the paramount issues. How to enhance security of the homeland amidst cyber threats, terrorism while ensuring civil liberties is something the next president should work upon. The Obama administration has repealed many Bush-era counterterrorism policies that were notorious, but expanded on the controversial practice of targeted killing, usually through drones. And why not, it helped the US kill many al Qaeda members. Last year, Obama was lauded for authorising a US Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden at Abbottabad in Pakistan.

Mitt Romney had got accolades for his leadership of the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, held just five months after the gruesome September 11 attacks. Romney has always emphasised upon the significance of intelligence gathering. Moreover, he has vowed to deal with cybersecurity in his first 100 days in office. Counterradicalisation in Muslim communities will also be on the agenda of Romney.

As per a white paper released last year, if elected president, Romney would "order a full interagency initiative to formulate a unified national strategy to deter and defend against the growing threats of militarised cyber-attacks, cyber-terrorism, cyber-espionage, and private-sector intellectual property theft”.