The Multilateral Military Response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Indonesia, 2004: The United States, Australia, and Japan (original) (raw)

Indonesia's Crisis Response Strategies: The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004

The object of this article is to examine the strategies of Indonesia to the transna tional disaster by focusing on the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. While conventional studies have focused on the donor perspective of large-scale efforts, they have not fully accounted for the efforts made by the affected countries. Therefore, this paper tries to find out how Indonesia built its own response strategies, and handled the tsunami at the alleviation, restoration and prevention phase. Indonesia showed dynamic shift from a 'multilayered global network type' to 'government concentration type' and 'hierarchical global governance model' to achieve its long term reconstruction targets despite suffering the most severe damages.

New Multilateralism in Action for Peace: A Case Study of the US-led Operation Unified Assistance in the Asian Tsunami Disaster1

Democracy and Security, 2007

In the aftermath of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in December 2004, the ensuing multinational relief, humanitarian, and rebuilding efforts of the Operation United Assistance (OUA) are new examples of international cooperation to sustain and rebuild Asian communities in the post-9/11 security environment. An analysis of the cooperative efforts in light of differing theoretical perspectives provides a forum for debate on the nature of cooperation in the international arena and the implications for ethnic and civil wars in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Once described and explained by multiple theories, the relief operations can then be used to predict and perhaps even prescribe future international cooperation in natural disasters and conflict resolution in civil war environments. As a case study, this paper also examines international security strategies and the implications for economic prosperity and political stability in sovereign but weak nation states.

Indonesia and the tsunami: responses and foreign policy implications

Australian Journal of International Affairs, 2006

Given the scale of destruction, and the international responses to the disaster, it has been clear from the outset that the tsunami in Aceh would also have far-reaching internal and external political consequences for Indonesia. Within Indonesia's domestic context, the disaster has forced the government to deal with the problems of xenophobia, the resolution of the Aceh conflict, and the imperative of good governance. The tsunami has also presented an opportunity for much closer bilateral relations between Indonesia and some key aid-providing nations, especially Australia, and the US. Despite some encouraging improvements in the aftermath of the disaster, the long-term effects of tsunami aid on Indonesia's relations with Australia and the US should not be taken for granted.

The international humanitarian system and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis

Disasters, 2007

The December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis were an exceptional event. So too was the scale of the response, particularly the level of international funding. Unprecedented donations meant that for once, an international emergency response was largely free of financial constraints. This removal of the funding constraint facilitated observation of the capacity and quality of international disaster aid. The Tsunami Evaluation Coalition conducted five independent thematic assessments in 2005—an impact study was planned, but never implemented. The five evaluations were supported by 44 sub-studies. Based on this work, this paper compares international disaster response objectives, principles and standards with actual performance. It reaches conclusions on four salient aspects: funding; capacity and quality; recovery; and ownership. It ends by proposing a fundamental reorientation of international disaster response approaches that would root them in concepts of sustainable disaster risk reduction and recovery, based on local and national ownership of these processes.

Waves of Change: Evolution in the US Navy's Strategic Approach to Disaster Relief Operations between the 2004 and 2011 Asian Tsunamis

Asian Security , 2013

The US military response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami had a powerful strategic influence on Indonesia, and led the US Navy to make far-reaching changes in its strategic approach to humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) operations. These changes emerged because the positive benefits of military-delivered relief were so clearly demonstrated and the experiences validated specific concepts that have since guided the US Navy toward becoming a humanitarian partner. Current force structures were demonstrated to be adaptable to HA/DR, close cooperation with diverse partners was affirmed as a key element of successful maritime operations, and seabasing was shown as an operational construct exceptionally well suited for HA/DR. As a result of the changes, the naval response to the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 took place in a very different strategic context.

Tsunami Diplomacy: Will the 26 December, 2004 Bring Peace to the Affected Countries?

Sociological Research Online, 2005

Disaster diplomacy examines whether or not disasters induce international cooperation amongst enemy countries. The 26 December, 2004 tsunami around the Indian Ocean impacted more than a dozen countries, many with internal or external conflicts, thereby providing an opportunity to explore how the same event affects different countries in different disaster diplomacy contexts. Two groups of case studies are presented: those from which few disaster diplomacy outcomes are likely and those which warrant monitoring and investigation. Indonesian tsunami diplomacy is used as a case study for further discussion, in terms of both American-Indonesian relations and the conflict in Aceh. Further work is suggested in the tsunami's aftermath in order to understand better the disaster diplomacy outcomes which are feasible and why they rarely yield positive, lasting results.

Why give? Japan’s Response to the Asian Tsunami Crisis

Japan Forum, 2006

This article analyses the various motives behind Japan's response to the December 2004 Asian earthquake and tsunami. There was no mono-causal explanation for Japan's tsunami aid policy. The various state, non-state and private actors involved in the policy-making and implementation process each had their own motives but were united by a genuine spirit of humanitarian goodwill. Nevertheless, the tragedy did provide the Japanese government with an opportunity to promote a security agenda by enhancing the legitimacy of the Self-Defence Forces (SDF) and strengthening military relations with the US. Tokyo also took advantage of the tsunami to pursue politico-diplomatic objectives. Prominent among these were two interrelated goals: the bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and a desire to diplomatically outshine China. Aid given after a disaster is pure, an affirmation of the best of the human spirit, uncontaminated by politics.