This event is presented by the East-West Center in Washington, the Japan Foundation, Abe Global, and the Social Science Research Council.
Natural hazards have become an increasingly common factor in the contemporary world. In North America, forest fires have destroyed communities, while high waters and flooding have hit low lying seaside communities as well as mountain valleys and deserts. Summer of 2023 saw widespread effects of forest fires burning in northern Canada and the Lahaina, Hawaii fire sparked by downed power lines and 90 mph winds; droughts; off-season flooding in Southern California and across vast rural areas in Asia and Europe destroying crops, halting river transport, and restricting the generation of electricity. Sixteen inches of rain, falling in one day, caused widespread flooding, loss of life, and disaster in Libya. The destruction of infrastructure and disruption of life caused by natural disasters shares commonalities with the aftereffects of violent conflict. How do communities, regions and nations recover from extreme hazards? How can local knowledge impact resilience? What can we learn from the experiences of disaster-ridden nations such as Japan? Can that knowledge be leveraged in recovery from conflict?
A conversation with:
Daniel Aldrich
Jordan Sand
Anuradha Mukherji
Heejun Chang
Mary Alice Haddad (chair)
