On ASEAN, Myanmar and the Cyclone Nargis

I have written a paper on the ASEAN response to the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis on Myanmar. This paper will be presented during the International Conference:
'Protecting People in Conflict and Crisis: Responding to the Challenges of a Changing World'. This conference is organized by the Refugee Studies Center which also gave me a grant to attend the conference. The full paper can be found here on my SSRN account. Please download it if you wish and do send me a comment if you can.

I have posted the abstract below:


The destruction wrought by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar was one of the worst natural disasters to hit that country and the Southeast Asian Region in recent memory. Since the Asian tsunami in 2004, no such disaster was experienced in the region. Myanmar was criticized internationally for its alleged slow effort in allowing international aid to enter into the country. An aside to this is the criticism leveled against the ASEAN for its slow response in giving aid to the beleaguered in Myanmar. It is to this aside that this paper devotes its attention to. This research looks into ASEAN’s policy on disaster management. It gives focus on the engagement of ASEAN with Myanmar to allow humanitarian aid to flow into the country. Arguing that ASEAN’s disaster management mechanisms are a reflection of this institution’s lack of organizational coherence preventing it from taking strategic and decisive actions, the paper suggests that in time ASEAN will move from its doctrine of non-intervention in the affairs of a sovereign state to one of non-indifference. However, it will take time and more positive engagement for this to happen. In the end, ASEAN will have to reevaluate its own goals for it to be a more successful apparatus for interstate and regional affairs especially in responding to humanitarian crisis brought about by natural disasters.

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Warmest Regards,

Hiram

Julio