Governing Catastrophes: Security, Health and Humanitarian Assistance

Recent catastrophes, and predictions of an increasing potential for more, have
stimulated thinking about the best policy responses to these threats. This article
explores how security concepts influence catastrophe governance. The article considers
how globalization affects thinking about catastrophes and describes ways in which
catastrophes have been conceptualized as governance challenges, such as the human
rights approach to the provision of health and humanitarian assistance. The article
explains how health and humanitarian assistance experienced ‘‘securitization’’ in the
post-cold war period, a development that challenges rights-based strategies and creates
complex and controversial implications for the prevention, protection and response
functions of catastrophe governance.