Citation

Pettiford L. Disasters 1995; 19(2): 148-155.

Affiliation

Faculty of Humanities, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7600057

Abstract

Over the past 25 years Central America has suffered a number of major disasters: the Managua Earthquake (1972), Hurricane Fifi (1974), the Guatemalan Earthquake (1976), the San Salvador Earthquake (1986) and Hurricane Joan (1988). These events are briefly described, with special reference to their political aspects and implications. Recognition of the political importance of disasters in Central America leads to a questioning of the traditional notion that security is essentially a matter of defending the state from outside aggression. It is suggested that the analysis of disasters should be part of the debate that is currently underway in international relations about redefining the concept of security in the post-Cold War world.

Language: en