Dual Disasters: Humanitarian Aid After the 2004 Tsunami

by Jennifer Hyndman

The 2004 tsunami was massive in every the earthquake that preceded it was one of the largest ever recorded, the number of people killed or displaced is estimated at well over a million, and the international community donated billions of dollars to the relief effort. In some cases the tsunami struck regions already embroiled in other kinds of catastrophes – violent conflict and poverty. The tsunami’s presence not only wreaked havoc as a natural disaster, but it left an enduring mark on the political dynamics and power struggles of these places.

Dual Disasters describes what happens when “man-made” and “natural” disasters meet. Focusing specifically on Indonesia and Sri Lanka, countries that had complex emergencies long before the tsunami arrived, Hyndman shows how the storm’s arrival shifted the goals of international aid, altered relations between and within states and accelerated or slowed peacebuilding efforts. With updated comments on the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the book guides readers deftly through the multifaceted forces at work in modern humanitarian disasters.

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2010

Reviews

[Jennifer Kern]

When countries have an existing violent or poverty-stricken track record, how do they protect themselves from a natural disaster? Focusing specifically on Sri Lanka and Indonesia, Dual Disasters describes what happens when "man-made" and "natural" disasters meet; and how the tsunami's arrival from 2004 shifted the goals of international aid, altered relations and accelerated or slowed peacebuilding efforts.

This book is a must-read for those interested in international studies and the environment.