Remote crisis management: Australia's 2006 rescue of citizens trapped in Lebanon

Abstract

On 12 July 2006, Hezbollah's kidnapping of two young Israeli soldiers was the catalyst for a sudden escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon was host to more citizens and permanent residents from Australia than any other country in the world. This article examines the monumental challenge faced by the Australian authorities in rescuing and repatriating its citizens who were caught up in the conflict. It does so through the conceptual lens of ‘remote crisis management’ i.e. episodes where one country's traditional crisis management challenges of rapid threats, uncertainty and the need for swift decision making are compounded by ‘political remoteness’. In other words, it lacks both political sovereignty and local infrastructure capacity for crisis resolution in a faraway county. The article focuses particularly on the remote crisis management challenges of making sense of the crisis, communication with a range of interests, and the logistical challenges of arranging and installing rescue and evacuation procedures. It also addresses the significance of Australia's prior evacuation experiences, as well as the capacity it had built in local and international networks. The article draws on a range of primary and secondary sources, including interviews with public servants and community representatives.

Notes

1. Interviewees include Lyndall Sachs (Australian Ambassador in Beirut, Lebanon) and Rod Smith (First Assistant Secretary, Consular, Public Diplomacy and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who chaired the Inter-Departmental Emergency Taskforce). Some interviewees, who wish to remain anonymous, have not been included in the list of references. All interviews for the article were conducted by Yaël Schwarz.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yaël Schwarz

Yaël Schwarz was a student in the Masters of Policy, Communication and Organization at the VU University, Amsterdam and in 2007 a visiting-researcher at the University of Sydney. She is currently working at Qbuzz, a new agency in the Netherlands, as part of her Traineeship at the Dutch Railways.

Allan McConnell

Allan McConnell is currently at the Department of Government at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Allan is a public policy specialist with a particular interest in the politics of crises and disasters. He is the co-author (with L. Drennan) of Risk and Crisis Management in the Public Sector, Routledge, 2007, and co-editor (with A. Boin and P. ‘t Hart) of Governing After Crisis: The Politics of Investigation, Accountability and Learning, Cambridge University Press, 2008.