ABSTRACT
Natural disasters and war provide opportunities to confront several paradoxes of culture. A scene of natural disaster reveals humanity at its most vulnerable and defenseless points. At the same time, disasters are arenas in which the highest heroism and physical endurance are encountered. Cultures that frequently experience natural disasters get better at this situationally induced collectivism through frequent practice. Like natural disasters, war is a recurring source of devastation across the world. War also allows death, the ultimate natural disaster, to be publicly acknowledged and commemorated; cemeteries and monuments spread across the fields of Arlington, Virginia, and northern France as well as in North Korea and Tehran. Disasters and wars result in displacement of people and the creation of refugees. Region-specific news accounts of the coordination between military and civilian responders can assist.
