Storms, Bombs, and Ecologies of Destruction: The Intimacies of Weather Disasters and U.S. Militarization in Asia and the Pacific
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Storms, Bombs, and Ecologies of Destruction: The Intimacies of Weather Disasters and U.S. Militarization in Asia and the Pacific

Abstract

My dissertation focuses on the intersections between destructive storm systems, Hollywood war films, and U.S. military operations in Asia and the Pacific during the 20th century. Focusing on the periods of World War II and the Cold War, this dissertation explores the complex relationship between U.S. militarization, Hollywood productions, and weather disasters in sites ranging from the Philippines, Hawai‘i, California, and Vietnam to Guam and the Marshall Islands. By using a broad geographic framework, this interdisciplinary project analyzes the relationship between the U.S. military’s aerial operations and weather forecasting, the socio-environmental impact of reproducing this aerial warfare in war films, and the tactics the U.S. military has historically used to track and monitor tropical cyclones in the Asia and Pacific region. In examining the relationship between the U.S. military and destructive storm systems, I posit three central claims that provide an overarching structure for the dissertation: 1) the U.S. military’s aerial operations in Asia and the Pacific, including both aerial warfare and nuclear bombings, act as weather disasters in and of themselves; 2) while these operations are immensely destructive, Hollywood war films exacerbate this destruction by reproducing aerial warfare, creating profound socio-environmental damage at shooting sites in Asia and the Pacific; 3) although U.S. military violence and Hollywood simulations can act as their own atmospheric forces, both the U.S. military-industrial-complex and Hollywood are nonetheless quite vulnerable to extreme weather in the Pacific. Within this structural foundation, my dissertation draws from literary and filmic texts that come from two distinct strains: texts from above that are aligned with the dominance of the U.S. military, such as Los Angeles disaster fiction and blockbuster war films, and texts coming from below, such as novels and poetry collections, that productively challenge and resist U.S. military power. These texts from below, which are predominately written by authors of color, critique the racialized and environmental consequences of U.S. militarization in Asia and the Pacific, serving as important counter-narratives that illuminate the complex relationship between disasters, weather, and the U.S. military.

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