The Securitization of Disasters: A Study of How U.S. Presidents Frame Responses to Foreign Natural Disasters

This article examines how the president of the United States frames policy responses to natural disasters at the international level, analyzing whether such responses are securitized and, if so, whether traditional security, human security, or environmental security are used to justify action. Specifically, it examines every presidential communication relating to major foreign natural disasters that occurred between 2000 and 2010. The analysis revealed that disaster responses are framed through the lens of short-term disaster relief more often than they are securitized. When such responses are securitized, presidential communications focus on traditional security concerns rather than human or environmental security concerns. The results suggest that, for natural disaster response, human security concerns have not significantly influenced issue framing at the presidential level.