BRIEFING NOTE TITLE

Author’s Name, Organization  

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Summary of the briefing note in total. 

USE BLUF (bottom line up front) (*entire briefing must be in BLUF)

POSITION OR PURPOSE STATEMENT

Provide an overview of why the briefing note is required. Define (role and purpose) any actions that need to be taken to address the security problem.

THE SECURITY PROBLEM

The security problem must be clearly defined. For example, if there was a riot, what was the role and purpose or intention of the riot? This way, we can distinguish between describing acts or actions that occurred (the immediate cause) and defining the act. 

What is the immediate cause? Why is this a problem? For whom is it a problem? What are the underlying causes that are expressed in the form of the immediate cause, immediate actions, or immediate events? 

BACKGROUND AND KEY FACTS

Provide a brief summary of the background and clearly state why we need this briefing note. A good background presents two perspectives: that of the referent object and subject. 

KEY CONSIDERATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Keep this section clear and concise. Considerations and implications for whom specifically?

ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES TO BE CONSIDERED

What alternative perspectives are there? Which other views might we consider on the other side of this issue or affecting other aspects of the problem? Community impact assessments on the affected community are a good way of representing potential alternative perspectives.

WHAT IS NOT KNOWN

What information is missing or needed?

NEXT STEPS

What are the next steps that should be taken to obtain the required missing information?

AVAILABLE OPTIONS

Provide a list of options or suboptions that should be considered. 

RECOMMENDATION AND JUSTIFICATION

Recommend one of the options listed above and justify why that is the best option.

References

Provide a list of all the sources used/cited in the text. The list should be in APA style.