Australia’s humanitarian response to disasters in the South Pacific

Bibliographic Data

ID13021069
AuthorsDerek Mcdougall (0000-0003-1996-4240, The University of Melbourne, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume6
Issue3
Pages202-220
Publication date2021-05-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Journal of Comparative Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2057-8911 • E-ISSN: 2057-892X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/20578911211019249
OpenAlexW3165444357
LanguageEN
References cited14

Australian involvement in humanitarian affairs in the South Pacific is indicative of tensions that can arise between ‘humanitarianism as diplomacy’ and ‘humanitarian diplomacy’. Australia aims to play a leading role in relation to the Pacific island countries (PICs), and its humanitarian involvement can assist in that respect. However, despite Australia’s attempts to prevent or mitigate climate-related disasters, tensions have arisen because of Australia’s cautious climate change policies. The main influences on Australia’s involvement in humanitarian affairs in the South Pacific are political and bureaucratic factors within those parts of the Australian government concerned with relations with the PICs, and humanitarian affairs in particular; Australian interactions with the PICs themselves and other relevant international actors also play a role. The ‘lessons learnt’ from Australia’s humanitarian involvement in the South Pacific region focus on organizational effectiveness rather than the tensions between ‘humanitarian diplomacy’ and ‘humanitarianism as diplomacy’

Bureaucracy · Diplomacy · Government (linguistics · Humanitarian aid · Humanitarian crisis · International relations · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration · Disaster Management and Resilience · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Law · Public Administration

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