Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2016

Global Security and Intelligence Studies - Volume 2, Number 1 - Fall 2016 Calculation of Goodwill: Humanitarianism, Strategic Interests, and the U.S. Response to Typhoon Yolanda Chris J. Dolan A & Alynna J. Lyon B U.S. participation in the global response to Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) was compelled by both humanitarian concerns and strategic interests. U.S. action can be understood as a product of domestic and global discourse, historical milieu, logistical factors, and domestic political determinants highlighting the importance of Asia and the Pacific in U.S. foreign policy. Consistent with previous engagements, it is apparent in this case that humanitarian concerns aligned with strategic interests in shaping the extent of U.S. involvement. Our examination begins with a conceptualizing the determining factors in humanitarian operations. This provides specific focus on the degree with which historical milieu and larger episodes of previous engagements, media coverage and public support, human security and humanitarian concerns, and strategic interests enter into considerations. Our study then applies these concepts to understand the decision-making calculus in Operation Damayan. We conclude that the prevailing literature should focus more on a comprehensive understanding of interactive concepts and dynamic factors that include state actors, norms, domestic determinants, global factors, and historical milieu.. Keywords: Typhoon Yolanda, Operation Damayan, historical milieu, human security, strategic interests The goal of this examination is to assess the complexities of U.S. participation in humanitarian relief operations in response to Typhoon Yolanda, which made landfall in the Visayas region in the Philippines on November 8, 2013. Not only did the humanitarian mission, dubbed Operation Damayan, garner significant media coverage and public influence, it underscored the strategic importance of the Philippines in the Obama Administration’s foreign policy “pivot” or rebalance to Asia and the Pacific. It was also not the first time the United States participated in a large-scale humanitarian mission with strategic implications in the region. In 2004, when the Indian Ocean Tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people, the United States participated in relief and recovery efforts that ultimately reestablished order, reconstructed economic institutions, and led to peace in Aceh Indonesia. In 2011, in response to the tsunami that triggered nuclear disaster in Fukushima Japan, the United States moved quickly to bolster its most important ally in the Western Pacific. Therefore, in Operation Damayan, the U.S. role was shaped by several interactive determinants that co-evolved as part of a broader historical episode of humanitarian engagements and strategic considerations. A Professor, Lebanon Valley College B Associate Professor, University of New Hampshire doi: 10.18278/gsis.2.1.4 33

Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2016 | Page 39