Contagious insecurity: war, SARS and global air mobility
2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 18; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/13569775.2012.651273
ISSN1469-3631
Autores Tópico(s)Political Theology and Sovereignty
ResumoAbstract Neglect of the cross-cutting confluences between different domains of security can lead to insular notions of global security as well as to lost opportunities for security sensitive contributions to the adjoining issue areas. This article attempts to overview the patterns of interactions during three security scenarios of early 2003: wars, as, for example, the War against Terror and the war in Iraq; pandemics such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS); and air mobility. The overview approach is meant to draw attention to the synoptic interplay between global security scenarios that go beyond the usual disciplinary and conceptual boundaries separating security studies, global health and mobility infrastructures. How does the context of war amplify other security concerns? What were the synoptic interactions within temporally situated 'bundles' of security-related concerns? How did global air mobility politics and pandemic politics construct their combined security problematiques? The main research findings point to the relatively unique yet momentary qualities of the emergent nexus of security scenarios. This sheds light on the difficulties of managing pandemic diseases as purely epidemiological processes, on the complexities of securing global air mobility networks, and on how tense situations are prone to lead to speculative projections as people's fears find different somatic, material and political manifestations. The primary material for the textual analysis is provided by World Health Organization's SARS chronology. Keywords: pandemicsSARSair mobilitywarglobal security Notes Besides the lethal diseases, nuclear threats were much in use. There was a general trope repeated, for example, by the then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice that the world could not afford to wait for the 'mushroom cloud' (CNN, 10 January 2003). 'Fact Sheet: Health Security Initiative' on 21 October 2003: 'The across-the-board improvements to the nation's biodefense capabilities have vastly increased day-to-day security for all Americans, not only against threats posed by terrorists, but for medical response in the wake of natural catastrophes and in response to naturally-occurring biological hazards such as SARS'. 'Joint Statement between the United States of America and Singapore' on 6 May 2003. 'BioDefense Fact Sheet', 28 April 2004. Pandemics are often conceived of in terms of potential fatal blows against civilizations (e.g. Garret Citation1994). 'O'Neil, Fauci Discuss President's AIDS Initiatives', 3 May 2003, White House. 'Joint Statement between the United States of America and Singapore', 6 May 2003, White House. 'Expert Commission Links Spread of SARS, China's Legal System', 10 May 2003, US State Department. Additional informationNotes on contributorsMika Aaltola Dr. Mika Aaltola is the Director of the Global Security Research Programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
Referência(s)