Sir, – Congratulations to Lt Mair for her well- considered article in the November 2019 Review. Her fundamental premise, that humanitarian assistance can deliver political advantage, is well argued. Having operated in Asia-Pacific throughout my career at sea, and having carried our disaster relief in the South Pacific on several occasions, including living ashore with local populations in the wake of tropical cyclones, I would make a couple of observations about this particular part of the world that I hope build on Lt Mair’s arguments. Firstly, there is the question of proportionality. In the…
