HUMANITARIAN CRISES AND CONTEMPORARY NATO IDENTITY: PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE 2005 CASE STUDY
HUMANITARIAN CRISES AND CONTEMPORARY NATO IDENTITY: PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE 2005 CASE STUDY

Summary/Abstract: Shifting from the military and defense alliance to the political organization brought changes to NATO's traditional roles. The humanitarian field and actorness in humanitarian crises has been a field of interest for NATO ever since the 1990s. As this new NATO role has been constantly disputed, NATO is involved in framing humanitarian crises as NATO task making strategic changes, and changing public discourse in order to support that task. The aim of this paper is to explain how NATO framed humanitarian crises and its participation in the international response to them on the example of the Pakistani humanitarian crisis caused by the devastating earthquake in 2005. The paper focuses on three stages of the process: identifying the humanitarian crisis as a NATO task of cooperative security; presenting NATO’s contribution to problem solving in the form of coordinating role and logistical support, and finally, explaining incentives for action which encompass a narrative of solidarity. The Pakistani 2005 crisis has paved the way for the development of this role of NATO, thus transforming its Cold War identity based on the role of a military and defense actor.

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