Tsunami Diplomacy: Will the 26 December, 2004 Tsunami Bring Peace to the Affected Countries? by Ilan Kelman Cambridge University Centre for Risk in the Built Environment Sociological Research Online, Volume 10, Issue 1, < http://www.socresonline.org.uk/10/1/kelman.html> doi:10.5153/sro.1063 Received: 1 Mar 2005 Accepted: 31 Mar 2005 Published: 31 Mar 2005 Abstract 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. Keywords: Disaster Diplomacy, Tsunami Diplomacy, Indonesia, India, Disaster Risk Reduction, Politics Introduction 1.1 The 26 December, 2004 tsunami around the Indian Ocean impacted more than a dozen countries. Some of these countries suffer internal violent conflicts including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Somalia. Others are involved in more protracted political conflicts within the international community such as the isolation of Myanmar/Burma and the cool relations between India and the U.S.A. 1.2 Although individual conflicts, disease outbreaks, droughts, and famines have killed far more people than the tsunami throughout human history, this event was one of the most lethal sudden-onset disasters and resulted in one of the largest ever global humanitarian responses. Due to the presence of thousands of visitors from foreign countries in the inundated areas, many affluent countries were directly affected, including major players in regional and international politics, notably the U.S.A., the European Union, and Australia. Politicians in Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and the U.K. suffered intense criticism over their initially lackadaisical response to the disaster because hundreds of those countries' citizens were missing or affected. 1.3 Given the geographic extent of the disaster, the global politics impacted by it, and the political turmoil affecting many countries which experienced destruction, these events could provide useful examples for further exploration of 'disaster diplomacy'. This paper suggests possible areas to monitor and investigate regarding 'tsunami diplomacy': potential disaster diplomacy outcomes from the 26 December, 2004 tsunami. After an overview of past disaster diplomacy work, tsunami diplomacy areas are highlighted and summarised with Indonesia used as a case study for further discussion. The paper concludes with suggestions regarding tsunami diplomacy's possible impacts on disaster diplomacy research and application. Disaster Diplomacy 2.1 To define and explore disaster diplomacy, Kelman and Koukis (2000) asked the question 'Do natural disasters induce international cooperation amongst countries that have traditionally been "enemies"?'. Could disaster situations - local, international, or in between - positively affect bilateral relations amongst states which would not normally be prone to such cooperation? Examples researched in Kelman and Koukis (2000) were James Ker-Lindsay's work on Greece and Turkey in 1999, Michael Glantz' discussion