IB Glopo HL1 (disasters)

IN WHAT WAYS, AND WITH WHAT EFFECTS, DO GLOBAL ACTORS PREPARE FOR AND RESPOND TO NATURAL DISASTERS?

Patrick, S. M. (Director). (2013, November 14). Disaster preparedness & relief: three things to know [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/disasters/disaster-preparedness-relief-three-things-know/p31858

We'll use the Circle of Viewpoints routine to debrief and explore Stewart's points in the video. To do this, you'll need to: 

• Adopt a perspective or viewpoint: This can be anything from a local survivor or politician in the affected country to an NGO worker to a political figure in a different country or an international organization. 
• Once you've chosen your perspective, your next challenge is to be able to think, speak, and write about the geopolitics of natural disasters from this standpoint.
• Thirdly, you should be able to ask a question of your colleagues, those of different perspectives than your own, about the topic. For example, if you adopted the standpoint of an NGO in an affected region, what questions would you ask a citizen of a country not affected by the disaster?
• Take 10 minutes and jot down your perspective, ideas, and questions. We'll run a moderated caucus as a matter of debriefing on your ideas. 
• Finally, consider the following for open discussion: What new ideas do you have about the topic that you didn’t have before? What new questions do you have? 

[update]

The students grouped themselves into four categories of perspectives: Survivors & casualties (yes, a student chose to adopt the perspective of a man who died as a result of his government's failure to plan for the disaster), First responders & members of NGOs, journalists, and members of government; either affected by the disaster or third party governments. As always, the discussion was germane towards understanding the politics and experience of individuals impacted by natural disasters. Someone even included the term interoperability in the discussion about improving responses immediately after disasters.