Books

 


Cover of the book Catastrophic Diplomacy, by Julia Irwin. Cover features a photograph of two US Air Force pilots standing in rubble after an earthquake.

 

My most recent book, Catastrophic Diplomacy: U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance in the American Century, was published in January 2024 by the University of North Carolina Press. This book examines how the U.S. government, the U.S. military, and the American voluntary sector responded to disasters in other nations and empires during the twentieth century, with a focus on humanitarian emergencies caused by tropical storms, earthquakes, floods, and other natural hazards.

Catastrophic Diplomacy pays close attention to the relationships between governmental and non-state actors, and between the United States, other nations, and the international humanitarian system. Investigating international catastrophes as critical diplomatic and security issues, this book analyzes the use of foreign disaster aid as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy. At the same time, it demonstrates the centrality of natural hazards, disasters, and environmental forces to global history.

You can purchase Catastrophic Diplomacy here or from your favorite online bookseller.

 

 

Cover of the book Making the World Safe, by Julia Irwin. Cover features a painting of a women dressed in an American flag with a Red Cross in the background.

My first book, Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation's Humanitarian Awakening, was published by Oxford University Press in 2013. This book is a history of U.S. foreign relief efforts in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly during the First World War era. It traces how the U.S. government first began to use overseas aid as a tool of its statecraft, analyzing the political and strategic goals behind American foreign assistance efforts. This book also examines how U.S. citizens and voluntary organizations engaged in these humanitarian initiatives, exploring their role in international affairs and cultural diplomacy during this era.

The doctoral dissertation on which Making the World Safe is based was awarded the 2011 Betty M. Unterberger Prize for the best dissertation in diplomatic history from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.

You can purchase Making the World Safe here or from your favorite online bookseller.