disaster risk are not only many, but they are interactive. Those processes that affect exposure, for example, may also affect vulnerability, and vice versa. And in some cases, the causes of hazards themselves--particularly in the case of climate change--are interlinked with causes underlying exposure and vulnerability. MULTIPLE CAUSES: First, disaster risk increases due to a variety of interacting natural and/or man made processes. While in the case of seismic activity man-made processes have generally minimal impact, other hazards such as drought or flood have been found to be increasingly caused by anthropogenic climate change, itself the result of multiple interacting systems and processes. Exposure itself is the result of multiple social, economic, and institutional factors which stimulate population migration and settlement patterns. Vulnerability is similarly the result of cultural norms, legal statutes, as well as financial considerations, all of which contribute, for example, to the raising of buildings with varying capacity to sustain disasters. MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS: Disaster risk touches upon stakeholders at every level and sector of society. Given a disaster experienced within a country, for example, one cannot deny the crucial role played by ministers defining national policies, city mayors or councils defining zoning rules, or the local community members who make building decisions. Disasters do not respect sectoral boundaries. Schools, hospitals, businesses and homes may all be susceptible to damage. All relevant public and private actors are affected. STRUCTURAL TRAP: The fact that thought and action on disasters was focused almost entirely on response and recovery--and still is, to some extent--is an indication of a structural trap. By focusing only on the point at which disaster hits, local, national, and even international actors attend to immediate needs, in a superficially satisfying way, without addressing the underlying causes of disaster risk vis a vis a systemic examination of the three underlying factors of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability.