Humanitarian Diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific: Part II
| Author | Lina Gong,Alistair D. B. Cook |
| Published date | 01 December 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/20578911211058142 |
| Date | 01 December 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Special issue articles |
Humanitarian Diplomacy
in the Asia-Pacific: Part II
Alistair D. B. Cook
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Programme, Centre
for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of
International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Lina Gong
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Programme, Centre
for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of
International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
This special issue is the second of a two-part series guest edited by Alistair D. B. Cook and Lina
Gong that examine how countries and regional organisation in Asia and the Pacific understand and
conduct humanitarian diplomacy. The current issue consists of perspectives from Japan, Indonesia
and the Philippines. Gomez explains why Japan has been at the periphery of the international
humanitarian system. He advances two explanations for Japan’s peripheral standing, which
include the difficulty for Japan to adapt to the humanitarian institutions that are dominated by
western norms and values, and Japan’s strength and preference for an integrated approach to
humanitarian crises through multiple international cooperation means. Marzuki and Tiola discuss
Indonesia’s perspectives and scope of humanitarian engagement which include providing emer-
gency relief in conflict and non-conflict settings as well as participating in UN peacekeeping opera-
tions. They argue that Indonesia’s own struggle with disasters and its identity as a member of
ASEAN and a Muslim-majority country are key factors shaping its conduct of humanitarian
diplomacy.
Trajano examines the humanitarian diplomacy conducted in the context of the US-Philippine
security alliance. He argues that the Philippines’evolving norms of disaster management have
broadly influenced the US’humanitarian diplomacy for the Philippines, which increasingly puts
further emphasis on disaster preparedness, community resilience and local capability. He demon-
strates the agency of a country affected by natural hazards in shaping the relationship with its
most important assistance provider, the United States. Atienza and Quilala examine the role of
Corresponding author:
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Programme, Centre for Non-TraditionalSecurity Studies, S. Rajaratnam School
of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Block S4, Level B3, 639798, Singapore.
Email: iscook@ntu.edu.sg
Research article
Asian Journal of Comparative Politics
2021, Vol. 6(4) 313–314
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/20578911211058142
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