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The Devil Never Sleeps
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The Devil Never Sleeps

Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters

Juliette Kayyem
Public Affairs, 2022
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9

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You live in an age of disasters. The 2008 financial meltdown and the COVID-19 pandemic were both disasters, as are cyberattacks, wildfires, droughts and myriad natural catastrophes. The list is literally endless. People typically consider a disaster as a discrete event with dire consequences. But, warns author Juliette Kayyem, disasters aren’t improbable, one-off events; at this point, they are practically the norm. Disasters and the tragedies they cause may not be avoidable, but with the right planning and preparedness, people can minimize disasters’ consequences.

Summary

 Disasters aren’t anomalies.

Disasters are calamitous events that cause destruction and death. They encompass a wide variety of phenomena: financial meltdowns, pandemics, cyberattacks, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and much more. People all too frequently view disasters as bad luck that human beings cannot control.

People who study disasters tend to divide their duration into two phases: before and after the disaster, generically called “the boom.” In the time period that precedes a disaster, governments, businesses and other institutions adopt measures that ideally will prevent calamity. In the phase after the disaster, people attempt to recuperate from its consequences. People strive to avoid or delay disasters or to mitigate their consequences, but disasters occur anyway. 

Disaster managers should focus on what happens after a disaster to respond and rebuild effectively. They should prepare for “all-hazards,” that is, all possible disasters, and find ways to minimize their consequences.

Planners should assume disasters will occur.

In 2018 and 2019 respectively, two Boeing 737 MAX...

About the Author

Juliette Kayyem, a specialist in crisis management, disaster response and homeland security, serves on the faculty at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and is Faculty Chair of the Homeland Security project. She is also a national security analyst for CNN and the author of Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting Our Homeland and Your Home. 

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