EMC Chair 2015 | Euan Graham: HADR and SAR Cooperation in Southeast Asia
Channel: U.S. Naval War College
Date: 31/03/2015

Dr. Euan Graham, Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore 
EMC Chair Symposium on Maritime Power and International Security
March 25, 2015

My presentation focuses on Southeast Asia as an important sub-region within the ‘Indo-Pacific’ macro-region for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) and Search and Rescue (SAR) cooperation. This has been pointedly highlighted by the mixed record of responses to Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in the Philippines in late 2013, the ongoing search for MH370 still missing since March 2014, as well as the successful multinational operation to find and recover Air Asia flight QZ851. How evolved are regional frameworks for maritime cooperation in these areas; what are the major constraints, and what else does this tell us beyond the direct humanitarian and maritime safety requirements that need to be addressed? 

While it should be recognized upfront that HADR and SAR cooperation pose discrete sets of operational and political challenges, they have jointly emerged and acquired wider significance as the preferred common denominators for regional defense engagement and capacity building, with a particular onus on Southeast Asia. Though neither area is especially controversial SAR, as a mainly maritime activity, is less problematic for regional cooperation than HADR, which is land-focused and therefore more prone to sensitivities from affected states about foreign, especially military, ‘boots on the ground’. SAR collaboration is not without complications either, as exposed during the initial stages of the multinational search for MH370, as well as limited regional support for the 1979 SAR Convention.

For a complete description of the lecture, visit https://www.usnwc.edu/Academics/Faculty/Derek-Reveron/Workshops/Maritime-Security,-Seapower,---Trade-(1)/papers/graham.aspx

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are the speaker's own and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Naval War College, the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or any other branch or agency of the U.S. Government.