Localisation or deglobalisation? East Asia and the dismantling of liberal humanitarianism

Abstract

Among the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit outcomes, localisation of humanitarian aid has received the greatest amount of attention. Localisation is described as giving more support to national first respondents, making humanitarian aid ‘as local as possible, as international as necessary’. Despite the good intentions, localisation presents a biased understanding of the local and its agency in transforming humanitarianism. Not only is localisation a failed attempt to reconfigure the international humanitarian system power relations, dominated by Western actors, but also it glosses over the crucial role of the South in moulding the humanitarian action norm. In order to address the latter, the paper reviews the history of humanitarian action in East Asia as a case of norm circulation, showing how the region’s agency was essential to accommodate the foundations of liberal humanitarianism during the Cold War and, in the last two decades, to contest them. I argue that instead of localisation, a process of deglobalisation is taking shape in the region, based on increased national ownership of crisis response, privileging reciprocal, bilateral support over multilateral action, and legitimating the rejection of unnecessary support. These changes are pushing traditional humanitarian actors to rethink their practices, bringing much-needed change but also challenges.

Keywords:

• Crisis
• ASEAN
• disasters
• regionalism
• Global South
• governance

Acknowledgements

This paper builds on previous research I undertook at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Research Institute and discussed at the 2018 ISA Convention in San Francisco and the International Humanitarian Studies Association Conference in The Hague. Professor Puangthong R. Pawakapan’s support was fundamental to draft the case of Indochinese refugees. The manuscript was discussed in 2019 at the ISA Asia Pacific meeting in Singapore, the ISA Global South meeting in Accra, and the AP Conference in Beppu, where I received valuable feedback. Alistair D. B. Cook and Chigumi Kawaguchi offered further comments. The usual disclaimers apply.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 See Robillard et al. (2020) for recent research and new observations.

2 Following Barnett’s (2011) account of humanitarian history, closely linked to the liberal international order.

3 See also Bennett, Foley, and Pantuliano (2016) for another major report, this one prepared for the WHS.

4 On speed, see also Wall and Hedlund (2016, 18).

5 For ownership in international development cooperation see Gibson et al. (2005).

6 Membership expanded to Brunei (1984), Viet Nam (1995), Laos, Myanmar (1997) and Cambodia (1999).

7 Other political and cultural motivations may reinforce the favouring of bilateral exchanges (eg the role of militaries in disaster response), which are beyond the scope of the paper. Note that the region has a long-standing body of work on humanitarian civil–military coordination, undertaking simulations at least since 2005 (Regional Consultative Group 2020).

8 Latin American NGOs and think tanks complain about the UN’s unfair competition (Gómez 2019b).

9 In Gómez (2013, 2014), I suggest some of the characteristics of this challenge.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Oscar A. Gómez

Oscar A. Gómez (PhD, Tohoku University) is Assistant Professor at the College of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. His main interest is in global governance and human security practice, with special emphasis on humanitarian crises. He was a Research Fellow at JICA Research Institute for five years and, before that, a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow at the Graduate School of Global Studies, Doshisha University. He co-wrote background papers for the UNDP’s Human Development Reports of 2014, 2016 and 2020–2021. Recent publications include co-edited volumes on the humanitarian–development nexus (2018, Routledge) and human security norms in East Asia (2019, Palgrave). He is a member of the scientific committee of the Humanitarian Encyclopedia project organised by CERAH Geneva.