Relief efforts meant to ease the suffering of millions of people who survived the earthquake and tsunamis that have killed more than 110,000 so far are being blocked by confusion and disorganization.

The United States, India, Australia and Japan have formed a coalition to coordinate relief efforts, but with difficult situations on the ground all the money in the world hasn’t been able to help some survivors, who are isolated by the destruction of the waves.

Here at home, federal and state governments have standing agencies that react to disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Maine Emergency Management Agency coordinate the response to events ranging from hurricanes and floods to ice storms or terror attacks.

On the international level, however, there’s no single organizing body that can be called upon during a time of need. After each disaster, an ad hoc plan is hastily pulled together by contributing countries, while international organizations like the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders mount their own relief operations.

The United Nations has shown itself to be poorly equipped to respond to armed conflict and genocide. As the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan so terribly illustrates, the U.N. members – with their competing global-strategic interests – can stall needed intervention. But on disaster relief, the world should be able to agree on a rapid, unified response that is funded in advance and prepared to react.

Last year, after the earthquake in Bam, Iran, killed more than 25,000 people, the world was generous with pledges of support. Much of the money, however, never arrived, and the support evaporated over time.

We hope we don’t see a replay in the 12 countries most affected by this quake.

An international agency fashioned on FEMA would require funding and technical support from industrialized countries and would have to earn the trust of the world so it would be allowed quick access to afflicted areas. Such an organization could help coordinate the efforts of international donors and could better focus work on the areas of greatest need.

International bureaucracies are notoriously inefficient, but so is a quickly arranged response from the international community. Time and money – which translates into lives – are lost. The coalition formed by President Bush to meet the needs of this disaster could be used as the foundation for a new level of cooperation.

We don’t know when or where the next tragedy will strike. But we can be certain that this earthquake and the tsunamis won’t be the last time the world is called on for help. Next time, we could be better prepared.