Can Lebanon Survive Future Earthquake Disasters by Relying on a Military Response Strategy?

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Inefficient responses by civilian emergency organizations during crises have prompted Lebanese authorities to rely on the military for disaster response operations. Although understandable, this reliance might be insufficient to achieve desirable response efficiency. This article demonstrates that neither civilian emergency organizations nor military forces can unilaterally and efficiently handle the response to large-scale disasters, such as earthquakes, without a major restructuring of the current emergency response management. Therefore, this article describes the potential role of the integration of the military and Hezbollah in future response operations and proposes a model to improve the efficiency of future response operations. © 2016 Taylor & Francis.