Disaster “Public” Diplomacy: Understanding the role of disasters in international relations through the case of Turco-Greek Relations
Disaster “Public” Diplomacy: Understanding the role of disasters in international relations through the case of Turco-Greek Relations

Summary/Abstract: This article expands the analytical framework provided by disaster diplomacy studies by introducing insights drawn from public diplomacy studies and employs the said framework to explain the impacts of the earthquakes that hit both Turkey and Greece in 1999 on Turco-Greek relations. The disaster ‘public’ diplomacy understanding posits that natural disasters create a new public sphere in which state and non-state actors have the opportunity to re-evaluate bilateral relations. Disasters, within this perspective, have the potential to free parties from existing enmities and animosities. Disaster diplomacy, then, works as a communicative act where involved parties argue towards a new understanding of relations. Our analysis of the Turco-Greek relations in the aftermath of the twin earthquakes demonstrate that disaster ‘public’ diplomacy framework has the potential to capture intangible changes – such as public opinion and public discourses – in addition to tangible changes in bilateral relations and thus to explain the impacts of disasters on conflict resolutions.

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