Epidemics as a Threat to International Security: Lessons from the Ebola Epidemic
Dr. Andrew Price-Smith argues that infectious disease has long been recognized by nations as a substantive threat to economic and political stability, and thus to national security. He will speak to the earliest recognition of the threat by the Italian city-states and will take us through history from the Black Death to the Spanish Influenza, to the Ebola Epidemic of 2014-15 that was declared a threat to international peace and security by the UN Security Council. As such he argues that we are truly looking at the re-securitization of health in the modern era. Price-Smith draws upon his book Contagion and Chaos (MIT Press, 2009) which won the Choice Award for Academic Volume of the Year.
Dr. Price-Smith is currently the Department Chair at Colorado College. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto in 1999, received his M.A. from the University of Western Ontario, and a B.A. (Honors) from Queen's University. Dr. Price-Smith testified on climate change, disease, and international security before the U.S. House Science and Technology Committee and acted as an advisor to the U.S. Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. Department of Defense. He has also served as advisor to the United States Institute of Peace, the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and for the private sector. Click here for Dr. Price-Smith’s complete bio and accomplishments.
