The Special Relationship UK and US

The Special Relationship UK and US The term ‘special relationship is used to describe the Anglo-American relations soon after the Second World War when Britain and the United States developed a close working relationship and co-operated extensively in terms of military alliance, intelligence, diplomacy, nuclear affairs and also in cultural and intellectual life. The relationship between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill established the beginning of an extraordinary relationship in political history. The term ‘special relationship was coined by Winston Churchill in his Sinews of Peace Address (commonly called the Iron Curtain speech) at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, on 5 March 1946. Arguably, a period in which both Britain and the United States had a lot to gain from profound cooperation was the late 1940s.Britain had been weakened by the effects of the War and required financial assistance to restore its industries and rebuild its cities. The United States on the other hand was facing Soviet threat and was restricted by isolationist tendencies and domestic dissent on the domestic political front. Gallagher (2004:110) states that this period was a time when London and Washington recognized the need to maintain the kind of unity that had been so important during the fight against Japan and Nazi Germany. The Anglo-American relationship had several distinctive features. In the axis of intelligence, the United States and Britain shared a wide range of information than either does among its other allies; especially during the Second World War and thereafter restored under the 1948 UKUSA agreements of which Dickie (1994:260) describes as â€Å"the most fruitful joint venture of the Anglo-American partnership, with extraordinary dividends for both sides†. This agreement set up the signals intelligence (SIGINT) apparatus of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the same vein, British intelligence operatives worked with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and functioned from the US embassy in London (Dumbrell, 2001). Britain and the United States also shared numerous bilateral defence links left over from the Second World War. Colman (2004) states that In December 1941, the cooperation between the British and American governments reached its peak with the signing of the Anglo-American Alliance and the creation of the combined chief of staff which is a collaborated British and American military command which presides over all Anglo-American operations. The NATO alliance, focused on the defence of Western Europe had Britain and the United States as its leading members. The formation of NATO in 1949 had the British Army of the Rhine (BOAR) as the Britains land force contribution with over 50,000 troops stationed in Germany in 1962 (Colman, 2004). The special relationship resulted in the Atlantic Charter of 1941, which is a set of guiding principles at the coming of peace targeted to govern relations between states. The Anglo-American relationship was furthered strengthened by economic connections, atomic and nuclear matters, and considering the fact that both countries share a common heritage and a common language. It is also pertinent to note the personal relationships that existed between some American Presidents and British Prime Ministers, significantly Churchill (whose mother was American) and Roosevelt and years later between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. The extent of the unity of purpose and cooperation which existed between the British and American governments during the Second World War remains one of the most phenomenal aspects of that period. However, the special relationship was intensely strained during the Suez crisis of 1956 and raised questions as to how special the relationship really was in reality. This essay seeks to address how the Suez crisis impaired the UK, USA special relationship and to decipher if the relationship was really that special. The Suez crisis of 1956 greatly strained the relationship between Britain and America; the crisis exposed their differences to colonialism, communism and their contrasting stakes in the Middle East. Also, the Anglo-American Alliance and Britains position as a great power was in ruins during this period. The Suez Canal was a sea route of vast strategic importance to Britain. As the main significance of the British Empire; it connected Britain with India and the pacific. The major figures involved were Anthony Eden, Britains Prime Minister, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower, his secretary of state, John Foster Dulles and the Egyptian president Gamal Abdul Nasser. The Suez Canal was the focal point of Britains military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean especially since Britain domination of Egypt since the 1880s (Dimbleby and Reynolds, 1988). Eden, who was Churchills successor as prime Minister argued that the Canal was Britains great imperial lifeline, particularly for oil (The Economist, 27 July 2006). For the Egyptians on the other hand, the Canal Zone was a constant reminder of the despised British occupation and efforts to terminate Britains presence in the Canal Zone were escalated especially after the military coup of 1952 which ousted the luxurious king Farouk. It became somewhat difficult to operate the canal as Egyptians boycotted British employment and attacked British personnel. (Dimbleby and Reynolds, 1988) The British government came to a decision in 1954 to evacuate the Canal Zone by June 1956. Eden hoped that this decision would foster a new relationship with Egypt and also since the American and British government agreed to financially support Nasser with a loan of $70 Million towards the procurement of the Aswan High Dam to provide better irrigation and electric power to Egypt. (Dimbleby and Reynolds, 1988) However, despite the loan offered by Britain and America, Nasser was not forthcoming, he undermined the Baghdad pact, a regional defence organization which was British-led and rejected the Anglo-American peace treaty plans with Israel. His ambition was to politically resurrect the whole Arab world against colonialism and opposition of great powers exploitation of the Middle East. Dimbleby and Reynolds (1988) state that while accepting the loan from the Anglo-American government, Nasser ordered arms from the Soviet Union through Czechoslovakia. By March 1956, the Anglo-American governments could no longer put up with Nasser; Eden condemned and compared Nasser with Mussolini and Hitler of the 1930s, adding that the Egyptian leaders objective was to become a ‘Caesar from the Gulf to the Atlantic, and to kick us out of it all (Shuckburgh, 1987:327). Dulles the US secretary of state announced on 19 July 1956 that the Aswan loan offered to Egypt had been cancelled. Nasser retaliated on 26 July 1956 by declaring to an amazed world the nationalization of the Suez Canal, stressing that Egypt would be in charge of the canal and proceeds used to finance the Aswan dam. Britain placed economic and political sanctions on Egypt as the British interest was in severe jeopardy, the British government was ready to use force to bring Nasser down. Eden tried to convince Eisenhower on the removal of the Nasser government for a regime friendlier to the West. However, Eisenhower was as unreceptive to Britain, just as Britain had been to America at the peak of the Dien Bien Phu crisis in Vietnam in 1954 (Louis and Owen, 1989) America did not have much at stake in respect to the nationalization of the Suez Canal as Britain did and as such believed that diplomacy was the best option, Dulles on 2nd October told a news conference that under the North Atlantic Treaty, Suez was not a part of Americas obligations to her Allies. (Dimbleby and Reynolds, 1988) Britain sort alliance with France as co-owners of the canal. Israel was encouraged to escalate the border raids in Sinai and invade Egypt signalling another Arab-Israeli War thereby posing a threat to the Suez Canal. Britain and France would exploit the opportunity as a pretext to intervene and secure the Suez Canal (The Economist, 27 July 2006). The American government was completely kept in the dark concerning these preparations for action. Eden concluded that although the Americans were in principle not happy with Britains use of force against Egypt to recover the canal, they would not completely oppose Britain. Outright American antagonism was least expected and that is exactly what Britain was faced with. A twelve hours ultimatum was issued by London and Paris for Israel and Egypt to retreat from the canal which was to be taken over by British and French forces. Israel accepted this ultimatum while Egypt rejected it and on the 31st of October 1956, the British and French destroyed Egyptian airfields. Eisenhower was infuriated by the obvious deception of his closest ally and Britains unwillingness to revert to diplomacy. Eisenhower, who was completely kept in the dark, felt utterly betrayed by his erstwhile allies, he told his aides â€Å"Ive just never seen great powers make such a complete mess and botch of things† (Dimbleby and Reynolds, 1988:214). He was determined to bring the whole enterprise to a stop. The timing of Britains actions was further unfortunate for Eisenhower who was up for re-election on 6 November 1956 of which his intention was to win as the incumbent ‘peace president, and it was pertinent he showed his capability of controlling global diplomatic and military conflicts. As such, Eisenhower could not afford to get caught up in a foreign complicated situation of no direct interest to America. America proved adept working via the United Nations and introduced a resolution calling for a ceasefire and desists from the use of force by all UN members. This resolution was passed by a majority of 64 to five votes, Russia voting with the US (Dumbrell, 2001). Britain on the other hand was severely criticised from all around the world instigated by the Americans. Apart from publicly criticising Britain and giving her a cold shoulder, Rachman (2001) highlights that the Americans further used the diminishing value of the pound sterling as a weapon to evict Britain from Egypt. A run on the pound ensued under US pressure as foreign holders of the sterling began to back out their holdings. America attacked the fragile economy of Britain and prohibited the IMF to offer emergency loans to Britain until the invasion was called off. The British Treasury envisaged an imminent financial collapse and on 7th November, Britain declared a ceasefire, stopped the operation and gave in to America demands. The French though furious were obliged to agree as their troops were under British authority, many of Britains illusions about the special relationship was destroyed and undermined by the Suez crisis of 1956. This is not the first time the Anglo-American relationship was severely strained and certainly not the last; the Indo-China crisis and the difference of opinions over Formosa are some examples. In reference to the ‘special relationship in the Middle East, Ashton (1996:113) argues as to the reason why the Middle East proved to be ‘such a fertile ground for conflict between the two powers was simply that their interests here often failed to coincide. Indeed, the US Cold War aims of containing the Soviet Union clashed with Britains tendency towards the Middle East in terms of the protection of its imperial interest. This difference in Anglo-American relations produced conflicts following the nationalisation of the Anglo-Iranian oil company in 1951 by the Iranian Premier Mohammad Mossadeq. The Anglo-American opposition further resurfaced in 1955 when Britain adhered to the Baghdad pact. Dulles, discussing the pact with Eisenhower asserted that â€Å"the British have taken it over and run it as an instrument of British policy that has drawn down upon it a tremendous amount of criticism† (Foreign Relations of the United States, 1991). The Anglo-American dispute as a result of failure of interest to coincide was also apparent over the tension in the South-Eastern Arabia territory of Buraimi. Anthony Eden, in January 1957 the eve of his resignation as Prime Minister remarked â€Å"It may be that the United States attitude to us in the Middle East dates from our refusal to give up Buraimi† (Smith, 2008). As highlighted by Petersen (2000), Hoover the Assistant secretary of State responded to the Anglo-American crack over Suez by stating that â€Å"this cleavage had gone a great deal deeper than people imagined. It had Started a long time ago even before Suez and as far back as the Buraimi incident† (Petersen, 2000:72). Petersen further argued that the Buraimi crisis â€Å"presented Anglo-American diplomats with a conflict of interest which †¦ eventually contributed to the rupture of the Atlantic Alliance during the Suez crisis of 1956† (Petersen, 1992:72) The British was hurt the most by the Suez crisis, which resulted in a break down in relations between Britain and America, a near crippling of the Pound sterling and in the resignation of Eden the conservative Prime Minister, as his health wrecked. According to Freiberger (1992), the crisis further exploded the lingering imperial pretensions of Britain and quickened the independence of its colonies e.g. Ghana and Nigeria. Britain learnt from the Suez crisis that it would never be able to take actions independently of America again as British politicians are contented to play second fiddle to America. If there is a special relationship between Britain and America, then it is a one way street with Britain hanging on to the coat-tails of the United States. Suez showed the French that perfide Albion could not be relied on as Britain always places its â€Å"special† relationship with America above its European interests. Conclusion History shows that international relations vary with the strength and character of respective leaders and that applies to the relationship between the United States and Great Britain. In the aftermath of Suez, Britains position became somewhat untenable to act like a superpower, her position as a world power began to decline with the rise of America. The Suez crisis made it very clear to the US that it has to take more prominence in crisis of the Middle East. One could easily wonder if the United States actively developed a strategy to replace Britain as a dominant power in the Middle East or if the US sacrificed its allies with the ambition of gaining total domination of the region. However, there have been recent controversies regarding the existence of the special relationship. According to a recent report by the Commons foreign affairs committee, Americas relationship with Britain is not more special than its relationship with its other main allies, and the term ‘special relationship does not portray the ‘modern Anglo-American relationship. (Times online, 28th March 2010) In this report, a committee of influential MPs state that â€Å"Britains special relationship with the US—forged by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt in the Second World War—no longer exists† (Times online, 28th March 2010). Does this mean that the relationship is dead? Relying on the traditional model of bilateral partnership will certainly doom this relationship to obscurity. Strengthening Britains leadership within the EU and a renewed partnership within multilateral institutions are essential for a strong and vital special relationship in the 21st century. Burwell (2010) echoed that the fundamental element of the special relationship in the 21st century must be partnerships that surpass the bilateral UK-US relationships. The Anglo-American special relationship should work towards a partnership with multilateral institutions to take on global challenges through diplomacy and political influence.

Novel effect Essay

I think Mary Shelley used language to develop lots of atmosphere in chapter five, I think this is because this huge build up of atmosphere makes you read faster and faster, and makes you want to read more. She uses many long, complex sentences, such as â€Å"Delighted and surprised, I embraced her; but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel,† this creates tension, giving the novel more effect. As she has used so many long complex sentences, many comma’s and semi-colon’s are used, this makes the reader pause a lot whilst reading, giving the effect of many short sentences, embedded into long, complex ones. As well as these sentences, she also uses many short sentences, and all of these changes lead you to read faster, which creates more tension. An example of one of the short sentences used is â€Å"Beautiful!† Another way Mary Shelley may have wanted to create atmosphere is by using many powerful adjectives such as â€Å"dreary,† and â€Å"miserable.† Words like these also give the effect of imagery, as well as creating huge amounts of atmosphere. Many other phrases in the book also help build atmosphere, many of which are things Frankenstein says, often about his monster. Examples of this are â€Å"miserable monster,† and â€Å"wretch.† I think Mary Shelly also created atmosphere another way, without the reader even realising she is trying to. In the novel, many archaic words and phrases are used, like â€Å"lassitude,† and â€Å"I beheld the accomplishment of my toils.† These words and phrases suit the gothic horror style the novel is written in, and help build up atmosphere. They also give the impression something spooky is going on, as they don’t sound like words we would use today. Also, naturally, people are scared of things that are unfamiliar, and Mary Shelley may have used these archaic words to give the book more of a spooky effect. I feel that chapter five links to the key themes in the novel, and I think the main one is the fact that Mary Shelley may have been hinting in her novel, that you can’t play god, and in chapter five, that is what Frankenstein is obsessed with doing. His friend, Henry, also notices this, and states â€Å"I did not before remark how very ill you appear; so thin and pale; you look as if you had been watching for several nights.† This implies that Frankenstein is an extremely obsessive character, and that he will not rest, until he has fulfilled his goal, creating life (playing god). The rest of the novel is about how Frankenstein’s desperation for power, comes back to haunt him. I also feel that chapter five links in with the key theme in the novel in another way. Whilst taking about her novel, Mary Shelley said â€Å"Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world. I feel that the meaning of this phrase, is that she is saying only god should have the power over life and death, and anyone who tries to defy him (by creating life), should be scared, as he will not accept it, and punish the person who defied his right. I think that in her story, she was subliminally hinting this, as she constantly refers to god. When Frankenstein is running away from the monster, the night it is created, he sees the steeple, â€Å"its white steeple,† and many other hints are also made. She could be hinting that straight after the monster is created, god has planned what will happen next. Furthermore, this shows that in the 19th century people were extremely religious, and took care about what they did, as they did not want god to punish them for their actions. Also, the phrase â€Å"infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet,† is stating that he is going to use electricity of some kind, to bring the â€Å"thing,† to life. This relates to galvanism, which is the process of running charges of electricity through dead animals and trying to bring them back to life, in actual fact, the charges were just making the muscles of the dead animal spasm. So the phrase shows that in the 19th century, many people were trying to bring dead things back to life. Mary Shelley got the idea of using lightning to bring the monster back to life from Luigi Galvani’s idea of galvanism, we know this because as well as overhearing her husband and Lord Byron talking about it, she was also very up to date with scientific experiments at the time. Furthermore, chapter five also gives us a better understanding of 19th century prose. The words and phrases in chapter five, are typical of 19th century language, for example, the phrase â€Å"infinite pain’s and care I had endeavoured to form,† is a phrase we would not use nowadays. Phrases such as this tell us that in the 19th century, writers would write in a much more formal style. I think that this is because in the 19th century, anyone who could read and write would be from an extremely wealthy family, and books were written to suit their style of language, not for the middle class. Another example of a 19th century word is countenance (another word for face), at present time, people are always looking to find abbreviations, so they can communicate faster, however, words like countenance are much longer, and more suited to the formal 19th century style of literature. From chapter five, we can also learn that in the 19th century, writers would use lots of powerful adjectives, and 19th century works would be very descriptive, with lots of imagery. Examples of powerful descriptive phrases, and adjectives are â€Å"grave-worms crawling,† and â€Å"demonical.† These words add lots of atmosphere to the story, and there is a strong use of imagery. The final thing I have learned about 19th century prose from chapter five is the use of colons and semi colons. Mary Shelley uses many semi colons and commas in the novel, and her use of commas and semi colons allows her to build atmosphere using long and complex sentences, and then often rapidly switch to a short one, for example â€Å"I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited; where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life,† then, the first sentence in the next paragraph is just the word â€Å"Oh!† This shows that in the 19th century, very often, some people would use commas and semi colons often, instead of full stops.

Understanding Professional Writing Services

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Disaster Indicators Their Capacity And Applicability Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 11 Words: 3344 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? The influence of natural and artificial disasters has been displayed in most societies throughout the world. As the human population continues to expand and societies become more complex, the significance of disaster prevention and mitigation has advanced to unprecedented heights. Former and recent methodologies employed to alleviate and avoid disasters are varied and complex; unfortunately, the aspiration of a composite index that provides a comprehensive picture of the societal impact of disasters has remained elusive. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Disaster Indicators Their Capacity And Applicability Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Disasters of similar cause and magnitude frequently occur; nonetheless, despite the similarity between disasters, the results are commonly different. Without a unique set of indicators that are universally quantifiable, predicting the societal impact of a disaster remains ambiguous and relatively unattainable. By comparison and analysis, the purpose of this paper is to propose evidence-based indicators which are comprehensive in capacity, yet specific in applicability; a strategy that will potentially enhance the ability of policy makers and emergency specialists to more accurately prevent and relieve the consequences of disasters. Disaster Indicators: Capacity and Applicability The World Health Organization (WHO) defines disasters as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources (World Health Organization, 2010). Historically, there are several illustrations of disasters; many of which provide significant support for the WHOs current characterization. Throughout human history, natural and man-made disasters have influenced colonies, societies, families, and individuals. For instance, Dr. David Crossley, a Professor of Geophysics at Saint Louis University, suggested; Considerable evidence exists for a major global paleoclimate event that happened around 3000B.C. It appears to have affected sea-level changes, vegetation and much surface chemistry. Likewise, the event in 1737 that may have killed some 300,000 people around Calcutta, India, is now ascribed to a typhoon (the Asian equivalent of a hurricane) combined with massive flooding. Originally thought to be an earthquake, this is unlikely from a tectonics point of view the major Himalayan seismicity is well to the north. This could be the most catastrophic atmospheric event ever recorded in terms of casualties (Crossley, D., 2005). Certainly, instances more recent are extremely prevalent; the name Katrina has forever embedded itself in Americas book of devastation. Rebecca Solnit reported, In August 2005, 90,000 square miles of the Gulf Coast were devastated; more than 1,800 people died; 182,000 homes were severely damaged in New Orleans alone, where 80 percent of the city was flooded. Hundreds of thousands went into an exile from which some will never return (2010). Similarly, reports suggest that the earthquake that struck the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010 affected over 3 million people, destroyed more than 200,000 homes, and killed over 230,000 people. Correspondingly, man-made disasters have similarly become a reality; a threat that appears to be universal and devastatingly dangerous. Author Bruce Hoffman undertook a comprehensive survey of 109 existing definitions. As a result, he proposes that terrorism is: ineluctably political in aims and motives; violent or . . . threatens violence; designed to have far-reaching psychological repercussions beyond the immediate victim or target; conducted either by an organization with an identifiable chain of command or conspiratorial cell structure . . . or by individuals or a small collection of individuals directly influenced, motivated, or inspired by the ideological aims or example of some existent terrorist movement and/or its leaders; and, perpetrated by a subnational group or state entity (Hoffman, B., 2006). With unyielding force, natural and man-made disasters have significantly altered human history. The data and descriptions of these disasters are seemingly infinite. Current analysis and examination provides some material related to disaster prevention and mitigation. However, to properly distinguish essential information, and eventually implement the conclusions, careful scrutiny of past and present societies, both successful and unsuccessful, may prove helpful. Traditionally, societies that have maintained balance and equality within agriculture, industry, government, and the economy have distinguished themselves from those who have not. Unfortunately, the relationship between each of these societal areas is complicated and often convoluted. Nonetheless, the impact of disasters is generally gauged by the overall equilibrium of each of these capacities following an incident (Jahan, S. 2003). Respectively, one study proposes the resulting societal impact of two earthquakes of similar magnitude, one that occurred in a developing country, Pakistan, and another that occurred in a developed country, Japan. The study explains the two countries populations at the time of the earthquakes were comparable: 167 million for Pakistan and 125 million for Japan. The earthquake intensities were also comparable: 7.6 magnitude for Pakistan and 7.2 magnitude for Japan (Gardoni, P., Murphy, C., 2010). Despite these similarities, however, the resulting damages were considerably different. The index provided indicates that Pakistan had approximately 14 times more fatalities than Japan, 2 times more individuals injured and 11 times more individuals left homeless. Country Pakistan Japan Event Phenomenon Earthquake Earthquake Magnitude 7.6 7.2 Date 2005 1995 Characteristics of the Country GDP (x 106) 91,080 4,428,530 Population 167,121,000 125,568,000 Consequences of the event Killed 73,338 5,297 Injured 69,142 34,492 Homeless 2,800,000 251,301 Cost (x 106) 5,000 100,000 Cost/GDP 0.05490 0.02258(Gardoni, P, Murphy. C., 2010) As governments and countries collaborate to more efficiently counter and prepare for situations comparable to those listed, it has become apparent that the development of an index or instrument that can quantitatively predict or suggest the impact of a disaster would prove to be invaluable. The ability to calculate the possible repercussions of any natural or man-made disaster before its occurrence could facilitate stronger economic resilience, more stable governmental control, and most importantly, possibly save thousands of lives. In the above study, the researchers observed: In terms of costs, Japan had direct economic losses that amounted to 20 times more than the direct economic losses in Pakistan. However, when factoring in the relative wealth of the two countries, it becomes clear that the economic impact (cost/GDP) on Pakistan was more than twice the economic impact on Japan. Creating a greater difficulty for mitigation efforts (Gardoni, P., Murphy, C., 2010). Consequently, many organizations, governments, and scientists have generated theories and suggestions for disaster indexes that may potentially meet these demands. In general, the current proposed theories agree the well-being of individuals be defined and gauged in terms of individual capabilities; Capabilities refer to the effective freedom of individuals to achieve valuable functionings, or doings and beings (Anand, S., Sen, A. 2000). Examples of functionings include being healthy, adequately nourished, adequately sheltered, mobile and educated. Capabilities thus describe the genuine opportunities open to a person (Sen, A, 1999). In essence, the societal impact is simplified and reduced to individuals rather than larger-scale groups. Likewise, an index is required that provides quantitative analysis and results opposed to qualitative observations will certainly facilitate decision and policy-makers ability to provide sound judgment in terms of prevention, response, and mitigation (Gardoni, P, Murphy, C., 2010). One such index is the Human Development Index (HDI). In 1990, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) introduced the HDI to measure human development of countries. Despite a few modifications that were introduced after its inception, the basic framework has remained the same. It is a composite index of normalized achievements in three different dimensions: economic prosperity, level of knowledge and skill, and quality of health (Finch, C., Emrich, C., Cutter, S., 2010). The HDI characterizes each of these dimensions by specific indicators. First, economic prosperity is measured by taking the logarithm of the Gross Domestic Product per-capita and adequately adjusted to the purchasing power disparities. Next, the level of knowledge and skill is measured by a weighted average of two attributes: the adult literacy rate, and the combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools (Finch, C., Emrich, C., Cutter, S., 2010). Last, the quality of life is measure d by the life expectancy rate. Together, these three indicators provide a cumulative score that is ranked against other countries or societies (Eisenman, D., Cordasco, K., Asch, S., Golden, J., Glik, D., 2007). As previously observed, the HDI provides an instrument to measure certain individual attributes hypothesized to be most indicative of development. HDI RANK COUNTRY HDI VALUE LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH MEAN YEARS OF SCHOOLING EXPECTED YEARS OF SCHOOLING GNI per-capita VERY HIGH HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 1 Norway 0.938 81.0 12.6 17.3 58,810 2 Australia 0.937 81.9 12.0 20.5 38,692 3 New Zealand 0.907 80.6 12.5 19.7 25,438 4 United States 0.902 79.6 12.4 15.7 47,094(United Nations Development Programme. 2010) HDI RANK COUNTRY HDI VALUE LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH MEAN YEARS OF SCHOOLING EXPECTED YEARS OF SCHOOLING GNI per-capita VERY LOW HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 1 Central African Republic 0.315 47.7 3.5 6.3 758 2 Mali 0.309 49.2 1.4 8.0 1171 3 Burkina Faso 0.305 53.7 1.3 5.8 1215 4 Liberia 0.300 59.1 3.9 11.0 320(United Nations Development Programme. 2010) It can be deduced that those countries or societies with excellent HDI scores should be most able to adapt to disasters. However, observational research suggests otherwise. Although the original HDI provides individual analysis, the index fails to account for societies that have interpersonal inequality. Researchers suggest, lower inequality should, ethically, increase overall human development of a region (Eisenman, D., Cordasco, K., Asch, S., Golden, J., Glik, D. 2007). In 2010, UNDP implemented an inequality factor; however, due to the nature of the HDI quantifying such observations remains difficult and merely provides an indirect measurement function with specific indicators (Anand, S., Sen, A., 2000). Implementing such an index in the calculation of actual or potential disaster impact remains problematic when assessing complete societal impact. A similar disaster index, the Life Quality Index (LQI), has been proposed as a solution to measuring the societal impact of disasters. Unlike the UNDPs Human Development Index (HDI), the LQI is measured meticulously from the economics of human welfare. Similar to the HDI, the LQI elicits a system for ranking societies based on human development. However, more importantly and unlike the HDI researchers report: The LQI can also serve as an objective function to be used in setting national or corporate goals for managing risk and to guide effective allocation of societys scarce resources for the mitigation of risks to life or health. The LQI is, essentially, a summary indicator providing a proposal of the net benefit to society for improving the overall public welfare by reducing risks to life in a cost-effective manner (Ditlevsen, O., Friis-Hansen, P. 2007). Despite these differences and proposed advantages over the HDI, the LQI remains an index to measure life expectancy and gross domestic product (GDP) per-capita; which, as defined, allows for errors and omissions in interpretation of indirect qualitative information. Both instruments provide essential material but, nonetheless, offer inadequate implementation and, therefore, appear to fall short of the necessary abilities of measuring or predicting disaster impact. Therefore, neither satisfies disaster index requirements. As previously noted, a capability approach provides a stronger theoretical foundation for identifying and quantifying the societal impact of natural disasters on the basis of overall changes in individuals capabilities- a technique employed by each of the indexes discussed previously (Jalali, R. 2002). Associate professors Paulo Gardoni and Colleen Murphy specifically stated: Because the proposed capability approach is more comprehensive in dimensions of well-being affected by a natural disaster it considers and, hence, in the picture of the societal impact it provides, it allows for a more complete and more accurate policy- and decision-making process for disaster recovery and mitigation. In addition, implementing a capability approach to the societal impact of a disaster will facilitate an integrated and coordinated approach to public policy decision-making for both development and disaster recovery and mitigation. The need to take into consideration natural disasters in development assessment, projects and planning is widely recognized in development economics. Using capabilities to measure both development and the impact of disasters will encourage the inclusion of a component on the vulnerability of that society to disasters in the assessment of the development of a society. Further, the same data could be used for the assessment of both the vulnerab ility and development of a society, therefore optimizing the allocation of the resources available for the data collection (Gardoni, P, Murphy, C., 2010). As a step towards bridging the assessment of the vulnerability and development of a society, the authors of this paper have previously proposed how to evaluate hazard mitigation policies from a capability approach. Although most indexes have similar mechanisms, generally incorporating life expectancy and GDP, a common flaw should be noted in each of the previous instruments; primarily, measuring or estimating disaster impact is difficult when specific indicators are individually based rather than collectively or societally based. Gardoni and Murphy observed such results and defined specific errors regarding previous disaster index strategies. Most notably, the GDP includes potential misrepresentation when it comes to societal development. In fact, the development of the capability approach to disaster analysis was, in essence, a result of partially deceiving information given by the GDP. For instance, the GDP is characterized as a calculated average of a region or area. However, the GDP does not indicate the value of every individual; if wealth and income are concentrated in the hands of a small percentage of a population, then the possibility remains that, although the GDP may appear high, the standard of living of many individuals within a society might be very low (Nussbaum, M., 2000). Likewise, previous disaster indexes have over-simplified the interpretation of quality of life. The HDI and the LQI presume to identify indicators based on individual members of a society; when a more accurate approach, in terms of predicting disaster impact, would be indicators designed for a society made up of individuals. A third disaster index, the Disaster Indicator Index (DII), appears to meet the demands of disaster measurement by employing a unique methodology. Consequently, analysis proves DII supplies indicators based on collective and societal concepts. As disaster indicators are not quantifiable, the DII proposes a technique to more accurately measure disaster results. The tables below provide the DII indicators based specifically on a capability group accompanied by the meaning of each capability. Capability Group Capability (being able toÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦) Indicator Longevity ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦live to the normal end of life No. of individuals killed Physical and mental health ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦avoid injuries No. of individuals injured ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦have adequate and permanent shelter No. of individuals left homeless ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦have adequate nourishment Correlated ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦live in a healthy environment No. of individuals without access to water Affiliation and mobility ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦engage in forms of interaction with others No. of individuals unemployed due to the disaster ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦move freely from place to place Correlated Command over resource ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦hold property Direct economic classes ($)(Gardoni, P, Murphy. C., 2010) Considering the DII, it is noteworthy that the previously described weaknesses present in the HDI and the LQI are absent. The DII accounts for limits in GDP and accounts for the impact influence of certain inequalities present within a society. Each of the four capabilities employed by the DII creates an umbrella category for several indicators necessary to measure or predict disaster impact. The previously described earthquakes in Pakistan and Japan have been analyzed by the DII and measured accordingly. The table below provides an impact ranking based on the four indicators and also includes data from the previous table. The likely conclusion of the inspection of the DII is positive when considering certain conditions. Nonetheless, the ability to generate quantifiable data based on qualitative evidence is still subjective and not concrete (Wei, J., Zhao, D., Wu, D., Lv, S., 2009). With this in mind, the DII appears to provide the most up-to-date characterization of capabilities or necessary abilities of a society while eliminating flaws found in other indexes. Country Pakistan Japan Event Phenomenon Earthquake Earthquake Magnitude 7.6 7.2 Date 2005 1995 Characteristics of the Country GDP (x 106) 91,080 4,428,530 Population 167,121,000 125,568,000 Consequences of the event Killed 73,338 5,297 Injured 69,142 34,492 Homeless 2,800,000 251,301 Cost (x 106) 5,000 100,000 Cost/GDP 0.05490 0.02258 Indicators I1 0.003 0.066 I2 0.117 0.110 I3 0.010 0.250 I4 0.021 0.112 DI 0.401 0.597 DII 0.154 0.208 (Gardoni, P, Murphy. C., 2010) Upon examination of several indexing systems, several problematic issues remain at the forefront of efficient disaster management and preparation. Despite certain difficulties, such as, the limitation of data and its impact of indexes and indicators, there are more current up-to-date principles that will allow for the evolution of disaster mitigation and management, and the eventual development of an index that meets proposed expectations. These principles may be simplified to four individually necessary concepts. First, global applicability is required and has recently become more possible with the development of more accurate data gathering and communication. Although, disaster indexes are best implemented on a micro-social level, the indicators must be recognizable on all levels. However, difficulties with funding and resources continue to be a limiting factor in relation to developing a comprehensive disaster index. Data collection requires significant time and resources if it is to be done accurately and extensively. Consequently, funding for such collection is often extremely scarce and of low importance to policy makers. Without an index that is globally applicable, the ability to counter or prevent disasters remains questionable; particularly because disasters of similar magnitudes occurring in different geographic areas often yield various results (Cavanaugh, J., Gelles, M., Reyes, G., Civiello, C., Zahner, M., 2008). Another necessary quality of a disaster index includes quality data. Similar to global applicability, quality data is often limited by resources and funding. It remains obvious, however, that in order to generate an instrument that incorporates all variables and occurrences the date used must be of high quality and accuracy- an attribute that is difficult to measure. Quality data, included with a third required concept, collectability will likely continue to be the most difficult aspect to overcome within disaster mitigation and prevention. Behind each number within a set of data is an individual or family. This consideration creates difficulties when proposing indicators that allow of the greatest collectability. Sociologically, it is difficult to place a number on humanity; nonetheless, it is necessary to assess disaster impact accurately. The fourth characteristic or principle which is supported by evidence is proper communication disaster risk management. Ditlevsen and Friis-Hansen describe the importance or communication with disaster mitigation: The concerns of different levels of government should be addressed in a meaningful way. For example, risk is very different at the local level (a community or small town) than it is at the national level. If risk is not presented and explained in a way that attracts stakeholders attention, it will not be possible to make progress in reducing the impact of disasters. To date the system of indicators has been opened up to scrutiny and discussion by international advisors, academics, risk professionals and a limited number of national technical and professional staff, but too few policy makers as such. In the short term it would thus be very wise to organize a series of national dialogues where the derived indicator results and implications are presented to a selected number of national level policy and decision makers. This would allow a testing of relevance and pertinence and offer conclusions as regards future work on the program. It is very important to take into account the set of next steps that might be taken to improve the reliability and validity of the data collected and the analyses undertaken (Ditlevsen, O., Friis-Hansen, P. 2007). In the future, sustainability for the program and promoting its applicability at the decision maker level requires a significant amount of local, national, and international communication. Without complete communication, global applicability, quality and collectible data, are simply impossible. In conclusion, the difficulty in achieving effective disaster risk management has been, in part, the result of the lack of a comprehensive conceptual framework of disaster risk that could facilitate a multidisciplinary evaluation and intervention. Most existing indices and evaluation techniques do not adequately express risk and are not based on a holistic approach that invites intervention. This is because of an inability to generate accurate and quality data. It is undeniably necessary to extrapolate information that proposes risk or threat in different ways. Disaster impact is comprehensive in nature and, thus, disaster management is complex (Rigg, J., Grundy-Warr, C., Law, L., Tan-Mullins, M., 2008). As a result, complexities in resource allocation, interstate and international communication, data collection appear to be the hurdles most challenging areas to understand. There has been significant progress made in disaster management and concepts, some through trial and error, have become increasingly important. The indexes described and analyzed above provide a partial framework for the future of disaster management and as more time and resources are spent responding to and learning from disasters, an eventual instrument will be developed that will save thousands in not millions of lives.