Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Who's Afraid of a Chicken? Securitization and Avian Flu

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 4; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17419160802020264

1741-9166

Jeremy Youde,

Zoonotic diseases and public health

Abstract Many recent discussions of a potential avian flu pandemic have called the disease a security threat. Without denying the potentially serious implications of such an outbreak, I question the usefulness of securitizing avian flu. I begin by reviewing how scholars and policymakers have securitized avian flu before outlining three main objections: that securitization encourages inappropriate responses, that it diverts attention from other pressing public health concerns, and that it furthers the gap between the First and Third Worlds. Keywords: Avian FluSecuritizationPandemic DiseaseNational Security Notes 1. Cited in Eric Quinones, "Project aims to 'kindle debate' on national security." Princeton Weekly Bulletin (16 October 2006), accessed at http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S16/10/08A65/index.xml, 13 February 2007. 2. Michael Osterholm, "Preparing for the next pandemic." Foreign Affairs (July/August 2005) 24–37: 33. 3. George W. Bush, "President outlines pandemic influenza preparations and response." Speech at National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA, 1 November 2005, accessed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051101-1.html, 29 October 2007. 4. World Health Organization (2004) "Avian influenza A(H5N1)- update 31: Situation (poultry) in Asia: need for a long-term response, comparison with previous outbreaks." http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_03_02/en/index.html#outbreak, accessed 13 February 2008. 5. World Health Organization (2006a) "H5N1 avian influenza: timeline." http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/timeline.pdf, accessed 13 February 2008. 6. Food and Agriculture Organization (2006) "Cats and avian influenza." http://www.fao.org/AG/AGAINFO/SUBJECTS/en/health/diseases-cards/avian_cats.html, accessed 13 February 2008. 7. World Health Organization (2008) "Cumulative number of confirmed human cases of avian influenza A/(H5N1) reported to WHO." http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/cases_table_2008_02_12/en/index.html, accessed 13 February 2008. 8. This argument may be overstated. Some evidence suggests that mild cases of H5N1 do already circulate throughout the human population. If this is the case, then some people may already possess the antibodies necessary to fight off a subsequent avian flu infection. It may also suggest that current flu vaccines could offer some level of protection against a widespread H5N1 outbreak among humans (Fumento 2005). Researchers working in Cambodia have challenged this suggestion, claiming that they were unable to find any mild or asymptomatic cases of H5N1 (CIDRAP 2006). 9. Michael Fumento, "Fuss and feathers: pandemic panic over the avian flu." The Weekly Standard (21 November 2005): 24–30. 10. CIDRAP (2006) "Mild H5N1 cases weren't missed in Cambodian outbreak," 27 March. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/mar2706cases.html, accessed 14 February 2008. 11. Associated Press (2006) "Leavitt: State overdue for a flu pandemic." 25 March. http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-3142.html, accessed 8 January 2007. 12. Denise Grady, "Danger of flu pandemic is clear, if not present." New York Times (9 October 2005). 13. Fumento, "Fuss and feathers: pandemic panic over the avian flu," pp. 24–30. 14. Richard Neustadt, and Harvey Fineberg. The epidemic that never was: policy-making and the swine flu scare. (New York: Vintage Books 1983). 15. Laurie Garrett, "The next pandemic?," Foreign Affairs 84 (July/August 2005): 3–23. 16. Robert G. Webster and Elena A. Govorkova, H5N1 influenza—Continuing evolution and spread. New England Journal of Medicine 355 (2006): 2174–2177. 17. BBC News (2005a) "Renewed warning over flu pandemic." 25 May. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4579777.stm, accessed 8 January 2007. 18. Mark Graber, "Bioterrorism update: viral hemorrhagic fever." Emergency Medicine (2002) 34: 44. 19. Quoted in Stephen Walt, "The renaissance of security studies." International Studies Quarterly (1991) 35: 211–239: 212. 20. Quote in Richard Ullman, (1983) "Redefining security." International Security 8: 129–153: 129. 21. Ibid, p. 133. 22. Robert L. Ostergard, Jr. "Politics in the hot zone: AIDS and national security in Africa." Third World Quarterly (2002) 23: 333–350. 23. Edward Kolodziej, "Renaissance in security studies? Caveat emptor!" International Studies Quarterly (1992) 36: 421–438. 24. Andrew T. Price-Smith, The health of nations: infectious disease, environmental change, and their impact on national and international security. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001). 25. Thomas Homer-Dixon, "Environmental scarcities and violent conflict: evidence from cases." International Security (1994) 19: 5–40. 26. United Nations Development Program Human development report, 1994: new dimensions of human security. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994). 27. Quoted in National Security Council The national security strategy of the United States of America. (Washington: National Security Council, 2006, p. 1). 28. Quoted in Stefan Elbe, "Should HIV/AIDS be securitized? The ethical dilemmas of linking HIV/AIDS and security." International Studies Quarterly (2006) 50: 119–144: 124. 29. Quoted in Jeff Huysmans, "Revisiting Copenhagen: or, on the creative development of a security studies agenda in Europe." European Journal of International Relations (1998) 4: 479–505: 480. 30. Quoted in Buzan, Barry, Ole Waever, and Japp de Wilde Security: a new framework for analysis, p. 26. (Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner, 1998), p. 26. 31. Quoted in Ole Waever, "Securitization and desecuritization." In On security, Ronnie Lipschutz (Ed.). (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), p. 65. 32. Quoted in Security: a new framework for analysis, p. 24–36. 33. Thierry Balzacq, "The three faces of securitization: political agency, audience, and context." European Journal of International Relations (2005) 11: 171–201. 34. A fascinating and contentious debate has emerged in recent years over securitization's normative content and the methods of desecuritizing an issue. Some have argued that securitization is a political act by politicians, and that it merely provides a framework for analysts to understand those moves (Taureck 2006, Waever 2000). Others have claimed that analysts using the securitization framework co-constitute and legitimate the efforts of the securitizers (Aradau 2004, 2006). Similarly, the meaning and methods of desecuritization remains underspecified in most Copenhagen School literature (c.a.s.e collective 2006: 455), and debates exist as to the implications of desecuritization for politics (Aradau 2004). This article will certainly not resolve these debates, nor is it my intention to do so here. My focus is on the explicit steps taken by political actors to present avian flu as a security threat. Whether this article is complicit in such a political strategy is best debated in other forums. 35. Rita Taureck, "Securitization theory and securitization studies." Journal of International Relations and Development (2006) 9: 53–61. 36. OleWaever, "The EU as a security actor: reflections from a pessimistic constructivist on post sovereign security orders." In International relations theory and the politics of European integration, Morten Kelstrup and Michael C. Williams (Eds.). (London: Routledge, 2000). 37. Claudia Aradau, "Security and the democratic scene: desecuritization and emancipation." Journal of International Relations and Development (2004) 4: 388–413. 38. Claudia Aradau, "Limits of security, limits of politics? A response." Journal of International Relations and Development (2006) 9: 81–90. 39. Quoted in Security: a new framework for analysis, p. 29. 40. World Health Organization (2005b) "Ten things you need to know about pandemic influenza." http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/pandemic10things/en, accessed 12 February 2008. 41. Quoted in Bush, "President outlines pandemic influenza preparations and response." 42. Paula Dobriansky, "Social, economic, and security implications of avian influenza." Speech at the Nixon Center, Washington, DC, 26 June 2006. http://www.state.gov/g/rls/rm/68811.htm, accessed 12 February 2008. 43. Pandemicflu.gov (n.d.) "What is the role of the Defense Department in dealing with avian influenza?" http://www.pandemicflu.gov/faq/planningresponse/1239.html, accessed 11 February 2008. 44. Department of Homeland Security (2007) "Strategic plan—securing our homeland." http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/strategicplan/index.shtm, accessed 14 February 2008. 45. Brock N. Meeks, "Homeland Security to be lead in flu crisis." MSNBC News, 11 October (2005). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9654456/, accessed 14 February 2008. 46. Quoted in Palmore, Julian "A clear and present danger to international security: highly pathogenic avian influenza." Defense and Security Analysis (2006) 22: 111–121: 115. 47. World Health Organization Responding to the avian influenza pandemic threat: recommended strategic actions. (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2005a). 48. World Health Organization WHO activities in avian influenza and pandemic influenza preparedness, January-May 2006. (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2006b). 49. Quoted in Osterholm, "Preparing for the next pandemic," p. 32. 50. Ibid, pg. 33. 51. Ibid, pg. 37. 52. Quoted in Bush, "President outlines pandemic influenza preparations and response." 53. Quoted in Homeland Security Council National strategy for pandemic influenza. (Washington, DC: Homeland Security Council, 2005, p. 9). 54. Quoted in Elbe, "Should HIV/AIDS be securitized? The ethical dilemmas of linking HIV/AIDS and security," pp. 131–132. 55. Dennis Altman, "Understanding HIV/AIDS as a global security issue." In Health impacts of globalization: toward global governance, Kelley Lee (Ed.). (New York: Palgrave, 2000). 56. Quoted in Walt, "The renaissance of security studies," p. 212. 57. Quoted in Daniel Deudney, "The case against linking environmental degradation and national security." Millennium (1990) 19: 461–476: 466. 58. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits the military from engaging in police-like activities on US soil without express authorization from Congress or the Constitution. 59. CNN "Bush military bird flu role slammed." (6 October 2005). http://edition.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/05/bush.reax/, accessed 16 January 2007. 60. Osterholm, "Preparing for the next pandemic." 61. BBC News (2005b) "Bird flu 'could kill 150m people.'" 30 September. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4292426.stm, accessed 16 January 2007. 62. Interestingly, Redlener has criticized the Bush Administration's pandemic influenza plan for allowing too great a role for the military (CNN 2005). 63. CNN, "Bush military bird flu role slammed." 64. Quoted in Fumento, "Fuss and feathers: pandemic panic over the avian flu," p. 25. 65. Ibid. 66. Perhaps fortunately, the movie performed poorly and received only 5.3 million viewers. This put the show in distant fourth place during its time slot. By comparison, the top-rated show of the evening was "American Idol" with 28.1 million viewers. 67. Richard Krause, "The swine flu episode and the fog of epidemics." Emerging Infectious Diseases (2006) 12: 40–43. 68. Richard Neustadt, and Harvey Fineberg, The epidemic that never was: policy-making and the swine flu scare. (New York: Vintage Books 1983). 69. David J. Sencer, and J. Donald Millar "Reflections on the 1976 swine flu vaccination program." Emerging Infectious Diseases (2006) 12: 29–33. 70. Osterholm 2005, p. 33. 71. Quoted in David P. Fidler, "Microbialpolitik: infectious diseases and international relations." American University International Law Journal (1998) 14: 1–53: 9. 72. This same sort of thinking had a devastating impact on neighborhoods with high numbers of Asian residents in the United States and Canada during the SARS outbreak of 2003. Yanzhung Huang, "The Politics of China's SARS crisis," Harvard's Asia Quarterly (2003) 7: 9–16. 73. CNN, "Bush unveils $7.1 billion plan to prepare for the pademic" (2 November 2005). http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/11/01/us.flu.plan [accessed 15 October, 2007]. 74. Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, "Fighting malaria." [n.d.]. http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/about/malaria/default.asp [accessed 4 October, 2007]. 75. Jeremy Shiffman, "Has donor prioritization of HIV/AIDS displaced aid for other health issues?" Health Policy and Planning (2008) 23: 95–100. 76. Rodney Bruce Hall, "The discursive demolition of the Asian development model." International Studies Quarterly (2003) 47: 71–99. 77. Stefan Elbe, "AIDS, security, biopolitics." International Relations (2005) 19: 403–419. 78. Stephen Gill, "The global panopticon? The neoliberal state, economic life, and democratic surveillance." Alternatives (1995) 2: 1–49. 79. Brent J. Steele and Jacque L. Amoureux "NGOs and monitoring genocide: the benefits and limits of panopticism." Millennium (2006) 34: 401–432. 80. The role of biopolitical surveillance on international relations is a fascinating topic, but largely beyond the scope of this article. A more in-depth discussion of this issue can be found in Baldwin 2005, Elbe 2006, Fairchild, Bayer, and Colgrove, 2007, Fortin 1995, and Youde 2008, among other sources. 81. Peter Baldwin, Disease and democracy: The industrialized world faces AIDS. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005). 82. Elbe, "Should HIV/AIDS be securitized? The ethicaldilemmas of linking HIV/AIDS and security." 83. Amy L. Fairchild, Ronald Bayer, and James Colgrove Searching eyes: privacy, the state, and disease surveillance in America. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007). 84. A.J. Fortin, "AIDS, surveillance, and public policy." Research in Law and Policy Studies (1995) 4: 173–197. 85. Jeremy Youde, (2008) "The promise and peril of biopolitics." Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference, Chicago, IL.