There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster
There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster

Author: Gregory Squires

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-01-11

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 1136084827

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There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster is the first comprehensive critical book on the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. The disaster will go down on record as one of the worst in American history, not least because of the government’s inept and cavalier response. But it is also a huge story for other reasons; the impact of the hurricane was uneven, and race and class were deeply implicated in the unevenness. Hartman and. Squires assemble two dozen critical scholars and activists who present a multifaceted portrait of the social implications of the disaster. The book covers the response to the disaster and the roles that race and class played, its impact on housing and redevelopment, the historical context of urban disasters in America and the future of economic development in the region. It offers strategic guidance for key actors - government agencies, financial institutions, neighbourhood organizations - in efforts to rebuild shattered communities.

Bucharest Diary
Bucharest Diary

Author: Alfred H. Moses

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2018-07-17

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 0815732732

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An insider's account of Romania's emergence from communism control In the 1970s American attorney Alfred H. Moses was approached on the streets of Bucharest by young Jews seeking help to emigrate to Israel. This became the author's mission until the communist regime fell in 1989. Before that Moses had met periodically with Romania's communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, to persuade him to allow increased Jewish emigration. This experience deepened Moses's interest in Romania—an interest that culminated in his serving as U.S. ambassador to the country from 1994 to 1997 during the Clinton administration. The ambassador's time of service in Romania came just a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. During this period Romania faced economic paralysis and was still buried in the rubble of communism. Over the next three years Moses helped nurture Romania's nascent democratic institutions, promoted privatization of Romania's economy, and shepherded Romania on the path toward full integration with Western institutions. Through frequent press conferences, speeches, and writings in the Romanian and Western press and in his meetings with Romanian officials at the highest level, he stated in plain language the steps Romania needed to take before it could be accepted in the West as a free and democratic country. Bucharest Diary: An American Ambassador's Journey is filled with firsthand stories, including colorful anecdotes, of the diplomacy, both public and private, that helped Romania recover from four decades of communist rule and, eventually, become a member of both NATO and the European Union. Romania still struggles today with the consequences of its history, but it has reached many of its post-communist goals, which Ambassador Moses championed at a crucial time. This book will be of special interest to readers of history and public affairs—in particular those interested in Jewish life under communist rule in Eastern Europe and how the United States and its Western partners helped rebuild an important country devastated by communism.

Unleashing Growth and Strengthening Resilience in the Caribbean
Unleashing Growth and Strengthening Resilience in the Caribbean

Author: Mr.Krishna Srinivasan

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2017-11-13

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 1484315197

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This book provides a diagnosis of the central economic and financial challenges facing Caribbean policymakers and offers broad policy recommendations for promoting a sustained and inclusive increase in economic well-being. The analysis highlights the need for Caribbean economies to make a concerted effort to break the feedback loops between weak macroeconomic fundamentals, notably pertaining to fiscal positions and financial sector strains, and structural impediments, such as high electricity costs, limited financial deepening, violent crime, and brain drain, which have depressed private investment and growth. A recurring theme in the book is the need for greater regional coordination in finding solutions to address the Caribbean’s shared and intertwined macroeconomic and structural challenges. The analysis suggests that strengthening regional and global market integration of Caribbean economies would provide an impetus to sustained growth in incomes and jobs. Greater regional and global economic integration would also facilitate structural transformation and a shift toward new economic activities, resulting in more diversified and less vulnerable economies. A central challenge for the Caribbean is thus to come together as a region, overcome the limitations posed by size, and garner the benefits of globalization. Efforts should build on existing regional arrangements; accelerating progress in implementing these agreements would stimulate trade. Policymakers could also promote deeper integration with Latin America and the rest of the world by pursuing new trade agreements, leveraging current agreements more effectively, or deepening them to include areas beyond traditional trade issues, and developing port and transport infrastructure.

Natural Hazards Atlas of Jamaica
Natural Hazards Atlas of Jamaica

Author: Parris Lyew-Ayee

Publisher: University of West Indies Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 9789766402594

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The authors have creatively and persuasively designed an atlas of Jamaica focusing on the four principal natural hazards of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and landslides in order to increase government and public awareness of hazards in the context of the island?s developmental and environmental problems.The work is divided into three sections in which the authors consider the physical geography of Jamaica; detail the common hazards that commonly affect Jamaica, and provide maps of each Jamaican parish indicating models of each hazard at a local scale.?The atlas is accessible to decision makers in central and local government, students and teachers in both secondary and tertiary institutions, and local communities. The academic challenge of putting the atlas together has been executed with painstaking detail and with considerable technical expertise and flair. The authors are to be congratulated on successfully negotiating the huge task of compiling detailed geo-coded information on natural hazards from both historical and contemporary sources and spatially correlating this information with salient features of Jamaica?s human and physical geography and geology. The result is an engaging collection of maps which offer fascinating insights into the multiple hazards that impact Jamaica.??David Barker, Head, Department of Geography and Geology, University of the West Indies, Jamaica Co-published with the Mona Geoinformatics Institute, University of the West Indies, Jamaica.

The Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters
The Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters

Author: Debarati Guha-Sapir

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-05-23

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 0199841934

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This work combines research and empirical evidence on the economic costs of disasters with theoretical approaches. It provides new insights on how to assess and manage the costs and impacts of disaster prevention, mitigation, recovery and adaption, and much more.

A Safer Future
A Safer Future

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1991-02-01

Total Pages: 85

ISBN-13: 0309045460

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Initial priorities for U.S. participation in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, declared by the United Nations, are contained in this volume. It focuses on seven issues: hazard and risk assessment; awareness and education; mitigation; preparedness for emergency response; recovery and reconstruction; prediction and warning; learning from disasters; and U.S. participation internationally. The committee presents its philosophy of calls for broad public and private participation to reduce the toll of disasters.

At Risk
At Risk

Author: Piers Blaikie

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-01-21

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 1134528612

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The term 'natural disaster' is often used to refer to natural events such as earthquakes, hurricanes or floods. However, the phrase 'natural disaster' suggests an uncritical acceptance of a deeply engrained ideological and cultural myth. At Risk questions this myth and argues that extreme natural events are not disasters until a vulnerable group of people is exposed. The updated new edition confronts a further ten years of ever more expensive and deadly disasters and discusses disaster not as an aberration, but as a signal failure of mainstream 'development'. Two analytical models are provided as tools for understanding vulnerability. One links remote and distant 'root causes' to 'unsafe conditions' in a 'progression of vulnerability'. The other uses the concepts of 'access' and 'livelihood' to understand why some households are more vulnerable than others. Examining key natural events and incorporating strategies to create a safer world, this revised edition is an important resource for those involved in the fields of environment and development studies.