In this compelling and controversial study, Neil Middleton and Phil O’Keefe examine the links between disasters, aid, development and relief – in the context of globalisation, the ‘free market’ ideology of the industrialised nations, the rapacity of financial short termism and the rise of new forms of colonialism – and argue that the profoundly political dimensions of humanitarian aid and disaster relief are being ignored. To illustrate this, the authors draw on case studies from Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Mozambique, Rwanda, Afghanistan and Azerbaijan.