Dr Albrecht Beck joins Andrew and Josh to discuss his award-winning disaster diplomacy work facilitating emergency management cooperation between Israel, Palestine, and Jordan – one of the world’s most complex regions. 

Albrecht shares the challenges of building trust between the nations and how focusing discussions on shared risks from natural hazards such as earthquakes helped establish initial cooperation. Over a decade, the project grew to include joint training, exercises, and developing standard operating procedures.

While political tensions remain high, day-to-day coordination between emergency services continues – showing how disaster management can open lines of communication even where diplomacy has stalled.

This episode provides a rare behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and successes of using disaster resilience as a starting point for building understanding between adversaries in a high-risk, high-conflict area of the world,  and offers valuable lessons for other divided regions facing disaster threats. 

Dr Albrecht Beck is the Director of Prepared International and a former United Nations staff member. Albrecht started work on the project while working for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). He has since worked for NATO, lectured at a University and started a consulting firm, Prepared International.