The HIV/AIDS Pandemic and the New Security Agenda : A Theoretical Discussion and a Case Study of the 1994 US Intervention in Haiti

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.This study examines whether disease, specifically HIV/AIDS, may become a security problem. As such, the study may be regarded in the context of new threats which are shaping the contemporary and evolving character of security. Consequently, the AIDS epidemic is situated among the signs of worldwide demographic, environmental, and social stress. The first part of the study discusses the context of disease in international relations. By presenting both historical and contemporary security implications it becomes apparent that the influence that epidemics have had on interstate relations are expansive, tracing from the formation of the state system to the current global hazards associated with the AIDS pandemic. Also presented in Part I is the theoretical framework, namely the new security agenda with its emphasis on securitization. Securitization moreover, functions as an analytical tool in Part II of the study, examining the manner in which issues are framed as existential threats, thereby requiring emergency measures that justify actions beyond the normal bounds of political procedure. Part II focuses on the case study, the US-led 1994 intervention in Haiti. As a qualitative study, it is analyzed from the perspective of securitization. This case study was selected to aid in determining whether the Haitian AIDS epidemic coupled with the refugee burden in the US in the early 1990s, played any role in the decision of the US to intervene in Haiti. The findings from the case study and the conceptual approach adopted, indicate that epidemic disease, and specifically HIV/AIDS, may be perceived as evolving into a security problem when it becomes securitized, provided the conditions of securitization are met