The Use of the Regular Militaries for Natural
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Sustainable Development Law & Policy Volume 20 Issue 1 Fall 2019: Comparative International Article 2 Approaches to Environmental Challenges The Use of the Regular Militaries for Natural Disaster Assistance: Climate Change and the Increasing Need for Changes to the Laws in the United States, China, Japan, the Philippines, and Other Countries Donald D.A. Schaefer Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/sdlp Part of the Agriculture Law Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Energy and Utilities Law Commons, Environmental Law Commons, Food and Drug Law Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, Intellectual Property Law Commons, International Law Commons, International Trade Law Commons, Land Use Law Commons, Law and Society Commons, Law of the Sea Commons, Litigation Commons, Natural Resources Law Commons, Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons, and the Water Law Commons Recommended Citation Schaefer, Donald D.A. (2019) "The Use of the Regular Militaries for Natural Disaster Assistance: Climate Change and the Increasing Need for Changes to the Laws in the United States, China, Japan, the Philippines, and Other Countries," Sustainable Development Law & Policy: Vol. 20 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/sdlp/vol20/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sustainable Development Law & Policy by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. T HE USE OF THE REGULAR MILITARIES FOR NATURAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE: C LIMATE C HANGE AND THE I NCREASING N EED FOR CHANGES TO THE LAWS IN THE UNITED S TATES, CHINA, J APAN, THE P HILIPPINES, AND O THER COUNTRIES By Donald D.A. Schaefer* INTRODUCTION CURRENT USE OF MJLITARJES oday's enviro nment has been changing, with ever-more Currentl y, rnilitaries around the world primaril y protect hurricanes, typh oons, and cyclones becoming stronger their countries and, if deemed necessary, fi ght wars. In T and causin g in creasing damage to li ves, communities, di scussing the poli tical nature of wars, 19th centu ry marti al and countries as a whole . For the most part, the response time strategist C lausewitz posits that " war is simply a continuati on has been slow due to bureaucrati c mi ssteps and other top of poli tical intercourse, with the addi tion of other means. We down governance. Regul ar mi litari es have often been bro ught ... want to make it clear that war in itself does not suspend in haphazardly, and in many cases toward th e end of the event. political intercourse or change it into something entirely M ilitari es around th e world should fi nd ways to a ll ow more di ffe rent. In essenti als that intercourse continues, irrespecti ve effecti ve use in assisting natu ral disaster efforts. Currently, of the means it employs." 1 War, th erefore, is poli ti cs by other po li tic ia ns call in the military more as an afterthought when means. Nations have used their mil ita ri es to quell domesti c things start to get catas trophic, but by that ti me it is often too uprisings as well as fi ght wars from both those who woul d late. Instead, countries sho uld have a pl an in place for a single in vade them and those they would in vade. Militari es do not call from the president, prime minister, or oth er nati onal leader to appear to freq uently depl oy to provide aid to those in disaster hi s or her mil itary leader(s) to mobilize military fo rces when an stricken areas, however, ignorin g a major politica l ro le that event such as a category 5 typhoon or hurricane is approaching. rnilitari es could pl ay outside war time. Many nations wi ll need to change their laws, revise their pl ans, Whi le the United States' military has grown under the and provide ongoing training fo r both military leaders and leadership of Uni ted States President Donald Trump,2 China personnel to ensure th at such protocols are allowed, understood, has steadil y ri sen as a global military power. 3 Weizhen Tan, and implemented. With increased climate change and the impact Markets Editor fo r CNBC As ia points out, "Asia does not that it is having, such acti on w ill become increasin gly necessary: depend solely on the U.S. fo r security, but with th e Chinese millions of lives w il l depend upon changes to many nati ons' navy, army and air fo rce growin g in strength , a 'far more rnul ti curre nt intern al laws regarding local and internati onal di saster polar, un stabl e military environment' has resulted."4 A recent assistance in order to survive. report by the U.S. Department of Defense acknowledges thi s This paper examines fo ur developed nati ons th at all face shift: frequent natura l disasters and that also share troubled hi stories China's leaders have benefited from what they view concerning cooperating on military matters: th e United States, as a "peri od of strategic opportuni ty" during th e initial C hina, Japan, and the Philippines. These nati ons were chosen two decades of the 2 151 century to develop domesti call y to complete a comparati ve analysis with the United States. The and expand China 's "compre hensive nati onal power." selected countries were chosen from the Asia-Pacifi c region, Over the corning decades, they are focused on rea li zing which has continued to ex perience some of th e greatest impacts a powerful and prosperous C hina that is equ ipped with fro m typhoons, fl ooding, a nd earthquakes, and to survey a a "world-class" military, securing China's status as a variety of governmental polic ies. The concern s this paper raises great power with the aim of emerging as the preeminent set a precedent for other countries to take simi lar plans to train power in the lndo-Pac ifi c region.5 regul a r militari es fo r interna l catastrophic natural di sasters in advance and to put these practices in to play immedi ate ly, preventing wasted time try ing to fi gure o ut what to do next. These changes require ame ndments and re interpretati ons of * Donald D.A. Schae fer, J.D. (2004, Un iversity of Washington), M .A. in Constitutional laws, but nati ons around th e world could benefi t Education (200 1, Uni versity of Michigan), Ph .D. in Political Science ( 1999, from making the necessary changes to ensure th at loss of li fe Uni versity of M ichigan), B. A . in Political Science and B.A . in Reli gion [double and property decrease. major] ( 1993, Uni versity o f Hawaii). Thi s is written in memory of his dissertation cha ir, Harold K. Jacobson. The author would like to thank hi s wife Ma. C ri sha F. Schaefer, his editor Charles C. Grimm, a nd the editors of this journa l for thei r edito ri al support. 4 Sustainable Development Law & Policy China also has a very large military when compared to animosity over a territorial dispute and differing views the United States.6 According to Business Insider, "With a on wartime history. population of 1.3 billion to draw from . .. China has over 2.3 "Japan-China relations have normalized," Kono told million in active service, with an additional l. l million as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in a meeting Monday. reserves and military police."7 With such large militaries, both "There are many difficult issues that we have yet to would be expected to be able to address internal disasters with resolve, but we should stand shoulder to shoulder to force, but neither side has done an adequate job with formally work on issues on a global scale."22 stated and provisioned preparations to this point. The final two countries this paper analyzes, the Philippines As these two countries grow closer and put their differences and Japan, both have much smaller militaries and have chosen to aside, simple economic cooperation and peace-time diplomacy use them for primarily defensive purposes.8 China and the United should not overshadow international disaster preparation. For States have continued strong if tenuous relationships with Japan true peace between China and Japan, a mutual agreement to - relationships that are being tested as China increases its reach assist each other should a catastrophic event impact either of within the Eastern Hemisphere.9 Japan has a tremulous history them needs to be established. with both China and the United States10 due to the wars against In the case of the Philippines, the military (estimated to 23 and occupation of these countries, but today Japan depends on be around 300,000 in strength ) has transformed recently and benefits from both. 11 Japan surrendered to the United States from a primarily internal defense posture to one of protecting after a lengthy and bloody war, 12 but has since gained influence its seas against China and others who would use its territorial as a key American ally.13 Japan's military has been primarily waters.24 At the same time, this nation bas gotten closer to used for defense purposes in the post-World War II era.