Australia in the Pacific Islands: Strategic Narratives of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief

Project: HDR ProjectPhD

Project Details

Description

Scholars argue that a strong strategic narrative is vital for political actors to secure domestic and international support for foreign policy. It is established that political actors craft strategic narratives to secure support for foreign policy decisions involving the use of military force for warfighting operations overseas. The question about how political actors craft strategic narratives to explain, justify and secure support for the use of military force for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations overseas is yet to be addressed. However, states are increasingly responding to more frequent and intense disasters overseas through HADR operations. This trend is particularly evident for Australia’s HADR operations in the Pacific Islands. This study conducts an original investigation into the projection and reception of the Australian Government’s strategic narratives about Australia’s HADR operations in four different Pacific Island states: Papua New Guinea (1997 – 1998), Solomon Islands (2007), Vanuatu (2015), and Fiji (2020). Applying discourse analysis techniques to hundreds of texts spanning two and-a-half decades, this study provides original evidence about how the Australian Government strategically narrated HADR operations; and whether and how the target audience of the Australian political opposition, Pacific Island political elite, and major Australian and Pacific Island media organisations adopted, contested, or rejected the government’s strategic narratives and on what basis. The study reveals that the projection and reception of certain aspects of the government’s strategic narratives had constitutive effects, such that Australia’s HADR operations were supported based on a shared meaning about (a) the availability and capabilities of military assets for overseas disaster relief; (b) international norms of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief; and (c) the friendship between Australia and Pacific Island states. The results indicate that certain elements of the government’s strategic narratives, including their clarity and consistency, resonance with ideas shared among the target audience, and flexibility to accommodate multiple interpretations, contributed to their strength. In contrast, the target audience contested, rejected, and did not respond to other aspects of the government’s strategic narratives including (a) the plot, resolution and themes of progress and success; (b) the credibility of the strategic narratives; (c) justifications for Australia’s HADR operations that were based on Australia’s security and strategic interests, Australia’s identity as a leader in HADR, Australia’s shared history with Pacific states, and national values; and (d) claims about the natural causes of weather-hazards, such as cyclones. The results indicate that it was a challenge for the government to construct a plausible strategic narrative in uncertain, post-disaster environments; to communicate when the Australian political opposition and Pacific Island political elite were pursuing other agendas; and to construct a strategic narrative that appealed to a dual Australian and Pacific Island audience with different understandings, identities, interests, historical experiences, and values. The results of this study provide the first empirical evidence of the role of strategic narratives in legitimising the use of military force for HADR operations overseas. Moreover, the results contribute new and significant knowledge about the discursive practices and politics that surround Australia’s HADR operations in the Pacific Islands, which must be considered alongside physical practices to comprehensively understand Australia’s foreign policy.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date4/03/1916/08/24

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