Irwin on "Catastrophic Diplomacy"

Next up in the Washington History Seminar is Catastrophic Diplomacy: The History of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, by Julia Irwin, University of South Florida, on Monday, December 7, 2015, from 4:00pm-5:30pm, in the 6th Floor Moynihan Board Room of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC.

Since the turn of the 20th century, and particularly since 1945, the United States has been one of the world’s leading providers of bilateral disaster assistance. Julia Irwin, a prominent historian of U.S. international relations, will trace the history of U.S. governmental, military, and private responses to foreign catastrophes caused by tropical storms, earthquakes, floods, and other natural hazards. She will also analyze the diplomatic, strategic, and cultural significance of this global disaster assistance.

Professor Irwin is the author of Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation’s Humanitarian Awakening (Oxford University Press, 2013).