The U.S. Constitution was written more than 230 years ago for a new country on the periphery of the world. Two centuries later, it governs the most powerful nation on earth, and its meaning is constantly debated. The U.S. Constitution in Five Minutes presents fifty-nine essays on subjects central to the meaning and application of the U.S. Constitution. Written by scholars, these essays cover origins; institutions, processes, and structural features; civil rights and liberties; and modes of interpretation and address common questions and misunderstandings about the Constitution, such as: • Can the president start a war? • Does the Constitution protect hate speech? • Does the Second Amendment give everyone the right to have a gun? • Does the Constitution protect noncitizens? • How can we tell what the Constitution means? Intended for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the underlying principles of the U.S. political system, the book will also be a valuable supplement to political science courses. As with all the “Five Minutes” books, the essays are written in lively and accessible prose and are brief enough to be read in five minutes.

The U.S. Constitution was written more than 230 years ago for a new country on the periphery of the world. Two centuries later, it governs the most powerful nation on earth, and its meaning is constantly debated. The U.S. Constitution in Five Minutes presents fifty-nine essays on subjects central to the meaning and application of the U.S. Constitution. Written by scholars, these essays cover origins; institutions, processes, and structural features; civil rights and liberties; and modes of interpretation and address common questions and misunderstandings about the Constitution, such as: • Can the president start a war? • Does the Constitution protect hate speech? • Does the Second Amendment give everyone the right to have a gun? • Does the Constitution protect noncitizens? • How can we tell what the Constitution means? Intended for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the underlying principles of the U.S. political system, the book will also be a valuable supplement to political science courses. As with all the “Five Minutes” books, the essays are written in lively and accessible prose and are brief enough to be read in five minutes.

Since the fall of the Berlin wall and the subsequent end of the Cold War, the United States faces a multidimensional threat never before seen within our nations' borders. Rogue nations and stateless organizations already have or are developing the capability to threaten the United States through acts of terror, information warfare, and the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction. As a nation, we are not prepared to prevent or respond to these threats. A federal infrastructure does not yet exist that can adequately prevent or react to such an attack. Given these increasing threats to the territory, population, and infrastructure of the United States, the Army Reserve should have an expanded role in providing homeland defense capabilities. The Army Reserve is well suited to homeland defense missions. The necessary infrastructure already exists in all 50 states. This thesis explains the role of the federal agencies tasked with missions in the Weapons of Mass Destruction/ Homeland Defense program, and recommends the Army Reserve as the single training base to train first responders to weapons of mass destruction incidents.