In the past week, we have seen two nations, overwhelmed with disasters, refuse foreign offers to provide rescue teams and other emergency aid. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Following Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. government also refused foreign aid. Reluctantly, it accepted some, but left much of it to rot in warehouses. Could that happen again…or worse? It could, if our government doesn’t develop detailed agreements and procedures in advance. 

The latest Disaster Response Framework provides no basis for optimism. A government that believes a mere framework can substitute for carefully laid plans is not likely to make substantive international commitments. As the U.S. economy weakens, companies are less willing to keep large stocks of products on hand. Our reliance on other countries for basic goods continues to grow, resulting in supply chains thousands of miles long. When the expected major earthquake occurs in California or the next monster hurricane strikes our coast, foreign aid will likely be needed even more than it was needed after Katrina.

The new global economy requires detailed planning and tight coordination for commercial survival. It should be obvious, then, that disaster survival requires similar planning and coordination. Sadly, it isn’t.

Tens of thousands of lives have been lost, many of them needlessly, for the lack of international plans and agreements for mutual aid in the wake of catastrophes. There is no reason to believe that it can’t happen here.