Disease, Security and Biological Weapons

This course assesses the political and security significance of infectious diseases and biological weapons. Whether one contemplates historical experiences with smallpox, plague and cholera, or the contemporary challenges posed by new diseases like HIV/AIDS and SARS, it is clear that pathogenic micro-organisms exercise a powerful influence over civilized humankind. The course concentrates on areas in which human health and security concerns intersect most closely, including: the threat posed by biological weapons; responses to fast-moving disease outbreaks of natural origin; security-oriented ethics for biological scientists; and the relationships between infectious disease patterns, public health capacity, state functioning and violent conflict. The overall aim of the course is to provide students with a stronger understanding of the scientific and political nature of these problems, why and how they might threaten security, and the conceptual and empirical connections between them. Course activities and assessment tasks are designed to encourage critical thinking and intellectual autonomy.