Natural disasters pose a unique threat to authoritarian regimes because they can bring existing failures within the structure of governance into sharp relief, thus legitimising the grievances of...Show moreNatural disasters pose a unique threat to authoritarian regimes because they can bring existing failures within the structure of governance into sharp relief, thus legitimising the grievances of rebel groups and increasing the risk of civil conflict. Most regimes therefore attempt to ensure humanitarian aid is secured and distributed, to mitigate such damages. Why then, do some regimes obstruct or deny humanitarian aid if doing so may incur costs to the regime? This thesis solves this puzzle by investigating the cases of the Bhola Cyclone in East Pakistan in 1970 and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2008 and assessing whether each of four key factors were observable in either case. The four factors are: ethnic and ideological differences; a fear of foreign intervention; elite rivalry; and the exit strategy of the military dictator. This analysis leads to several interesting conclusions. First, ethnic or ideological differences are not enough motivation for a regime to incur the costs of obstructing aid. Second, regimes will deny or obstruct foreign aid if they believe doing so will lead to a decreased risk of civil conflict. Third, elite rivalry may manipulate the regime’s leadership into acting against its own best interests. Finally, authoritarian leaders will prioritise their own exit strategy over the need to prevent untold numbers of civilian deaths.Show less
North Korea, and especially North Korea-U.S. relations, has been a point of attention to the international community for many years now. First active contact between North Korea and the...Show moreNorth Korea, and especially North Korea-U.S. relations, has been a point of attention to the international community for many years now. First active contact between North Korea and the international community was made during the Arduous March in 1995, when North Korea asked for humanitarian aid. Many of the diplomatic relations that were established between North Korea and other countries since then were halted due to the nuclear crisis in 2002. An exception was the EU, which kept providing humanitarian aid to North Korea. In this thesis, I compare the EU and U.S. policies on human rights and humanitarian aid in the mid 1990s and the early 2000s, in order to see both how the policies of the two parties differ from each other and how the policies differ in these two different time periods.Show less
