Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
chapter 7
In-Flew-Enza:
Pandemic Influenza
Yanzhong Huang
Infectious disease has historically affected world politics more extensively than
most imagine (Mcneill 1976; watts 1999). Yet despite its impact on the course of
history and the fate of nations, for a long time the concept of security focussed on the
use of military power to protect national borders and interests abroad. a paradigm
shift did not occur until the 1990s, when global health evolved from a humanitarian
issue to one of development, governance, and security (Pirages 1996; Garrett 1996;
Price-Smith 1999). The nascent field of health security became salient in 2000 when
the United States national Intelligence council (2000) issued its estimate on the
threat to U.S. national interests posed by infectious disease. In responding to this
new development, countries such as canada and Japan have explicitly included
issues of health security and human security in their foreign policies. In the post-
September 11 era there has been a surge of scholarly activity within the field of
health and international affairs. a voluminous literature explores the impact of public
health problems—framed in terms of human security, health security, microsecurity,
or biological security—on national and international security.
this chapter is concerned with the effects of a future influenza pandemic on
security primarily at it relates to stability both within and among states. Following
Richard Ullman (1983), security is defined in a broad manner, covering the
pandemic's potential impact on world economy, sociopolitical stability, and
security threats—to most, the influenza that costs 36 000 lives annuallly annually in
the United States is more a nuisance than a national security concern. to address all
infectious diseases as a security challenge not only risks diluting the true meaning of
security but also provides policy makers with little guidance for prioritising competing
policy objectives (Paris 2001). Uncertainty is another challenge in examining the
potential security implications of a future pandemic. while history can be a guide,
it cannot foretell the future. In this sense, a straightforward extrapolation from the
U.S. experience with the Spanish influenza can be misleading—not only because
the world is quite different from 1918, but also because the impact even of a global
pandemic will likely vary across countries, economies, and societies. this makes it
