Disaster Relief

Abstract

When a natural disaster strikes, such as a powerful earthquake or hurricane, countries must respond with urgency and on a massive scale if lives are to be saved. An agency or agencies must have a large number of personnel at their disposal, tremendous logistical capabilities to move men and materials, and the wherewithal to launch rescue and relief operations. Militaries bring considerable assets to bear in these situations, and are used repeatedly in Latin America. But they also present certain risks, and those are analyzed in a case study of Chile, in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that struck that nation in 2010. Pion-Berlin shows how the military can draw on its inherent structural and organizational strengths to provide valuable help in rescue and reconstruction efforts. But he also demonstrates that complications can and do still arise in these situations, having to do with command and control, decision-making autonomy, the presence of armed soldiers on city streets, and the prospect that they may abuse their coercive power.