Disaster diplomacy: The intricate links between disaster and conflict
| Author | Carmela Lutmar,Gina Yannitell Reinhardt |
| DOI | 10.1177/00223433221074791 |
| Date | 01 January 2022 |
| Published date | 01 January 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Introduction |
Introduction
Disaster diplomacy: The intricate links
between disaster and conflict
Gina Yannitell Reinhardt
Department of Government, University of Essex
Carmela Lutmar
University of Haifa
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn worldwide attention to the difficulties inherent in managing disasters. Scholars
across disciplines have been forced to consider the impact disasters have on interstate relations, state resilience,
patterns of violence and hostility, and the vulnerabilities that condition conflict. This special issue offers new insights
to help disentangle the relationship between disasters, conflict, and cooperation, by adhering to a three-pronged
theoretical framework. First, all pieces in this issue are underpinned by a unified understanding of disasters as
endogenous social phenomena. Second, we acknowledge that disasters occur as processes rather than discrete events.
Finally, we explore the possibility that disasters and conflict are co-determined by a common set of factors. The
articles herein were chosen not only because they advance academic thought about the disaster–conflict nexus, but
also because of their potential to advance the practical impact of this line of research on the global conflict and disaster
landscape. We highlight the relevance of this special issue for further work investigating the effects of conflict on
disasters and the relationship between the hazards cycle process and patterns of violence and hostility, as well as the
implications of adopting this suggested framework for policymaking and data collection.
Keywords
conflict, cooperation, disaster diplomacy, disaster politics, hazards cycle, vulnerabilities
The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn worldwide atten-
tion to the difficulties inherent in managing disasters.
As we learn globally and collectively how the virus
spreads, infects, and kills, we contend domestically and
separately with levels of development, community struc-
tures, and cultural norms that can exacerbate or mitigate
COVID-19’s effects, and that introduce new complex-
ities to international relations. As the pandemic contin-
ues, scholars of civil unrest, con flict, and cooperation
have been considering more generally the impact disas-
ters have on interstate relations, state resilience, patterns
of violence and hostility, and the vulnerabilities that
condition conflict.
For approximately two decades, studying how disasters
conditioninterstate relationshas given rise toa literature on
disaster diplomacy (Olson & Drury, 1997; Drury &
Olson, 1998; Kelman, 2011, 2016), in which scholars
consider disasters, such as the disaster caused by the
COVID-19 virus, as ‘shocks’ that can disrupt and poten-
tially terminate civil and interstate conflict. Because disas-
ters, unlike wars or regime changes, are unrelated to the
politics of a particular rivalry, they may counteract the
inertia inherent in protracted conflicts, revealing rivals’
limitations and levels of commitment, and catalyzing the
peace process (Kreutz, 2012; Mandel, 2002; Dreher &
Fuchs, 2015; Akcinaroglu, DiCicco & Radziszewski,
2011). At the same time, the shock caused by a critical
event mayexacerbate existing rivalriesand spark or increase
levels of violence (Brancati,2007; Ker-Lindsay, 2000; Nel
& Righarts, 2008). Though we know that both conflict
Corresponding author:
gina.reinhardt@essex.ac.uk
Journal of Peace Research
2022, Vol. 59(1) 3–11
ªThe Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/00223433221074791
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