Humanitarian Policy and Action in Asia

Alistair D. B. Cook, Lina Gong, Ian Holliday

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781041362708
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781042510313
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Human Rights
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This book offers a timely and accessible exploration of how humanitarian work is changing across one of the world's most diverse and crisis-affected regions. Set against a backdrop of shrinking global aid budgets, growing humanitarian need, and weakening of long-standing Western leadership, Humanitarian Policy and Action in Asia brings Asian perspectives to the centre of debates about the future of humanitarianism. Drawing on contributions from leading scholars and practitioners, the volume examines how humanitarian policy and practice are shaped by new technologies, regional institutions, state interests, and local traditions. Case studies range from disaster management reforms in Southeast Asia and humanitarian engagement in Afghanistan and Myanmar, to China's evolving role as a humanitarian actor and the growing importance of South–South cooperation. Together, they challenge the assumption that humanitarianism is driven solely from the Global North and highlight Asia's long history of supporting crisis-affected communities. Clear, wide-ranging, and grounded in real-world experience, this book shows how a more multiplex and polycentric humanitarian system is emerging—one that places affected communities, regional voices, and local knowledge at its heart. It is essential reading for students, researchers, and practitioners in humanitarian studies, international development, and Asian studies. It will also appeal to policymakers and NGO professionals working in crisis response, disaster management, and regional governance. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Asian Public Policy.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• 1 Humanitarian policy and action in Asia: analysing challenges, exploring opportunities
• 2 Humanitarianism and the fourth industrial revolution: saving which lives?
• 3 Missing targets: reforming disaster policy in Southeast Asia
• 4 Re-coupling security and rights in humanitarian engagement in South Asia: the example of Afghanistan
• 5 China “striving for achievement” in the humanitarian space?
• 6 South-South humanitarianism: a collaborative network of Chinese non-governmental organizations responding to the 2015 Nepal earthquake
• 7 Humanitarian engagement with Myanmar in the wake of the 2021 coup
• Index