Irwin, Julia F.

OUR SYNOPSIS: Julia F. Irwin illuminates the role of foreign assistance for sudden, so-called “natural” disasters as an important tool of American foreign policy, from the early twentieth century through to the 1970s. She argues, “It functioned as a means of projecting American power and influence globally and as a vehicle for preserving order and control abroad.” (2) Focusing on the State Department, the Armed Forces, and voluntary organizations such as the American Red Cross, she sheds light on their collaborative and inherently political humanitarian responses. She also emphasizes the federal government’s reliance on state-private partnerships for disaster assistance, blurring distinctions between state and non-state actors. These operations also tend to be bilateral rather than involving multiple nations, thus strengthening to potential for foreign policy agendas to dictate humanitarian efforts. Starting especially with the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, she shows that disaster assistance willingness developed out of an increasingly interventionist and imperial overall foreign policy. Extensive case studies greatly strengthen these arguments through clear examples.