International Cooperation Is Needed
International Cooperation Is Needed
Shlomo Aharonishky
| 20/02/2015
The new threats, unprecedented in their complexity, have posited new challenges before the leaderships and communities, and have profoundly influenced the average citizen’s sense of personal security. Suffice it to recall the unbridled power of nature that has recently caused so much damage and loss, to realize that mega-disasters demand immediate, long-range preparations and strategic planning: responsibilities have to be allocated, cooperation arrangements established, resources found, and general preparedness of the citizen and community embarked upon, such as civil defense training and exercises at the national level.
But this is only part of the story. The growing challenge to homeland security needs an approach based on international cooperation: the nations of the world must realize that they cannot deal with complex disasters on their own. The only way to cope with the catastrophes that we have witnessed recently - Haiti, New Zealand, Japan - is to appropriate unprecedented resources for extreme contingencies. International cooperation is justified on many counts. The first is financial. Threats and worst-case scenarios will require complex, multifaceted responses that can only be effective if unparalleled sums are invested in early preparations and in operations during the event. It would be wrong and even counter-productive for each country to exhaust vast investments on its own.
Cooperation will help narrow the gaps during an event. Major elements in the preparations must be in-depth knowledge and in many cases past experience in managing such events. Only international cooperation can contribute the requisite understanding and professionalism necessary for dealing with worst-case scenarios. The global village creates many opportunities for cooperation. Cooperation is especially crucial during the “hour of grace” – that brief, critical period between preparing for an event and dealing with it head on. This calls for a vast layout of forces, particularly in the initial hours and days of a disaster, after which the chances of locating survivors diminishes fast.
Inter-nation cooperation is also sine qua non because of the chain reaction nature of certain events. Mega-disasters often have a “snowball” effect. An event in one place impacts on another. If the proper steps are taken in the initial stages, they will reduce the risk for everyone.
The ability to forge cooperation depends first and foremost mainly on each country’s state of readiness. Readiness should be based on vision and a sober look at the direct and indirect influences of the economy, society, security, and other fields, and their place in the preparations and actual operations during an event. In this light, agencies and bodies must be built that will provide the answers to challenges in both ordinary times and national emergencies.
Disasters management must be learned and institutionalized, areas of responsibility determined, and goals set for preparations. Short, medium, and long-range objectives have to be defined, control mechanisms established to monitor their degree of achievement. Preparations need to be based on four rings: prevention and deterrence; readiness and preparation; action and response; rehabilitation.
A control and coordination layout has to be erected at the central and regional levels, and participating bodies determined. The authorities must introduce a program of civil defense exercises and devise joint operational doctrines.
If each country prepares itself intelligently for the coming challenges – be they natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or even unforeseeable events; and if international cooperation becomes the standard – then the sense of personal security of all citizens in the global village will improve significantly.
The new threats, unprecedented in their complexity, have posited new challenges before the leaderships and communities, and have profoundly influenced the average citizen’s sense of personal security. Suffice it to recall the unbridled power of nature that has recently caused so much damage and loss, to realize that mega-disasters demand immediate, long-range preparations and strategic planning: responsibilities have to be allocated, cooperation arrangements established, resources found, and general preparedness of the citizen and community embarked upon, such as civil defense training and exercises at the national level.
But this is only part of the story. The growing challenge to homeland security needs an approach based on international cooperation: the nations of the world must realize that they cannot deal with complex disasters on their own. The only way to cope with the catastrophes that we have witnessed recently - Haiti, New Zealand, Japan - is to appropriate unprecedented resources for extreme contingencies. International cooperation is justified on many counts. The first is financial. Threats and worst-case scenarios will require complex, multifaceted responses that can only be effective if unparalleled sums are invested in early preparations and in operations during the event. It would be wrong and even counter-productive for each country to exhaust vast investments on its own.
Cooperation will help narrow the gaps during an event. Major elements in the preparations must be in-depth knowledge and in many cases past experience in managing such events. Only international cooperation can contribute the requisite understanding and professionalism necessary for dealing with worst-case scenarios. The global village creates many opportunities for cooperation. Cooperation is especially crucial during the “hour of grace” – that brief, critical period between preparing for an event and dealing with it head on. This calls for a vast layout of forces, particularly in the initial hours and days of a disaster, after which the chances of locating survivors diminishes fast.
Inter-nation cooperation is also sine qua non because of the chain reaction nature of certain events. Mega-disasters often have a “snowball” effect. An event in one place impacts on another. If the proper steps are taken in the initial stages, they will reduce the risk for everyone.
The ability to forge cooperation depends first and foremost mainly on each country’s state of readiness. Readiness should be based on vision and a sober look at the direct and indirect influences of the economy, society, security, and other fields, and their place in the preparations and actual operations during an event. In this light, agencies and bodies must be built that will provide the answers to challenges in both ordinary times and national emergencies.
Disasters management must be learned and institutionalized, areas of responsibility determined, and goals set for preparations. Short, medium, and long-range objectives have to be defined, control mechanisms established to monitor their degree of achievement. Preparations need to be based on four rings: prevention and deterrence; readiness and preparation; action and response; rehabilitation.
A control and coordination layout has to be erected at the central and regional levels, and participating bodies determined. The authorities must introduce a program of civil defense exercises and devise joint operational doctrines.
If each country prepares itself intelligently for the coming challenges – be they natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or even unforeseeable events; and if international cooperation becomes the standard – then the sense of personal security of all citizens in the global village will improve significantly.
