Earlier today, I published a brief excerpt from my upcoming journal article "Disasters as Institutional Facts." It can be found on the Federation of American Scientists website:
http://blogs.fas.org/blog/2014/03/xycs-disasters/ It outlines an alternative approach to explaining how security issues are socially constructed that differs radically from the Copenhagen School's securitization framework. My ongoing research seeks to apply this theoretical approach to natural disaster response in Japan. I am therefore looking for disaster response experts, particularly in law and politics, who would be willing to engage on these topics. I am also looking for opportunities to present my research at Japanese universities for comment form the faculty and doctoral students. And, I would welcome any comments to this first publication of my conceptualization of disasters.

Respectfully,
Michael Edward Walsh
PhD Candidate - SOAS, University of London Senior Fellow - Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Visiting Researcher - Tokyo University of Foreign Studies