Politics in International Disasters: Fact, Not Fiction

Abstract

The political problems associated with relief range from a biased response by governments that supply assistance to the refusal to concede that such assistance is needed by governments that might require it. Ellen Freudenheim makes a thorough survey of the number of occasions on which these domestic or international political obstructions were reported by two major newspapers between 1972–1976. She argues convincingly that the international community cannot in good conscience be content with relief machinery designed to act only upon receipt of a governmental request for assistance. A more activist orientation to monitoring potential disasters, particularly drought and famine, and to monitoring the manner in which relief assistance is utilized once it is received is necessary if the effectiveness of this form of aid is to increase beyond that of the early 1970s.