The year 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. On 26 December 2004, a major earthquake struck with its epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The impact of the tsunami was a wakeup call to the world to pay greater attention to disasters, review and reform disaster management and emergency response, and improve cooperation in times of crises.

Over the past two decades, the global humanitarian system has undergone significant developments stemming from the increasing scale, frequency, and complexity of disasters, as well as changing political contexts. The contributors to this volume provide important insights drawing on their professional and research experience to understand the roles, motivations, and challenges in the humanitarian community from a diverse range of civilian and military perspectives.

Contents:

• Foreword


• Reflection


• About the Editor


• About the Contributors


• Acknowledgements


• Key Moments


• Introduction


• Origin and Evolution in Cooperation:
  
  
  
  • Before the Wave: Understanding UN Responses to Natural Hazards before 2004 (Arjun Katoch)
  
  
  • A Glimpse into the Past: The Pre-Tsunami ASEAN Disaster Management and Emergency Response Landscape (Mely Caballero-Anthony and S Nanthini)
  
  
  • Building for Tomorrow: Post-Tsunami Reconstruction and the Role of the Singapore International Foundation (Barry Desker)
  
  


• Developments in the Humanitarian Landscape:
  
  
  
  • Changes and Challenges: Evolution of the Humanitarian Landscape in the Asia-Pacific (Alistair D B Cook and Keith Paolo C Landicho)
  
  
  • The Tsunami that Shaped ASEAN’s Political Mindset in Governing Disasters (Said Faisal and Adelina Kamal)
  
  
  • Civil Society Organisations and the Changing Humanitarian Landscape (Rahmawati Husein)
  
  
  • Singapore Armed Forces: From Disaster Response to Collaborative Preparedness in HADR (Fredie Tan Eng Han, Huang Zhiwei, and Ted Chua Ken Jin)
  
  


• Contemporary and Emerging Issues:
  
  
  
  • Challenges and Opportunities in HADR Civil–Military Coordination (Alan Aoki and Joseph D Martin)
  
  
  • Where Does ASEAN Disaster Management Stand Now? (Lee Yam Ming)
  
  
  • Emerging Technologies and their Impact on HADR (Ritwik Gupta)
  
  
  • On Knowing and Facing the Humanitarian Future (Catherine Bragg)
  
  


• Tsunami Memorials


• Index

Readership: Advanced undergraduate and graduate students, academic researchers, and policy professionals in the fields of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, disaster risk reduction and management, disaster management, resilience, recovery, and international relations. Practitioners in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, disaster risk reduction and management, and recovery.

Key Features:

• It offers narratives, reflections, and knowledge from scholars and practitioners on the evolution of disaster management, examining what has changed, what remains to be improved, and how past experiences can inform future strategies


• It combines reflections on both the international humanitarian system and regional responses in Southeast Asia, offering a holistic view of disaster management


• Bringing together both scholars and practitioners, the book bridges theoretical perspectives with practical experiences, providing a well-rounded analysis


• The inclusion of chapters by individuals who played pivotal roles in disaster response rarely found in other publications