NCJ Number
201647
Date Published
2000
Length
84 pages
Annotation
This report examines the role of health in national security and questions whether health issues present a national security threat.
Abstract
The current world environment has created security threats that are not readily amendable to military solutions. The concept of security must be expanded into areas not traditionally thought of as security issues. Health problems caused by infectious diseases may indeed present a national security threat, although the exact etiology of such a threat is unknown. As such, the intersections between health and security issues are worthy of study. The four main goals of the current study were to examine trends in the global health market and determine how they may pose significant security challenges; to underscore the policy choices created by the interaction of health and security; to inform policymakers of the challenges posed by this under-examined relationship; and to consider policy recommendations that speak to the potential of health-related security threats. After discussing the role of global change in the spread of infectious diseases, the report is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 examines the impact of health on instability within and among States. The indirect impact of disease on stability of both regional and global communities is explored in this chapter. Chapter 2 investigates the practice of humanitarian warfare, in which warring nations deliberately attempt to inflict harm on civilian noncombatants. A holistic approach to security is called for to effectively combat community warfare. Chapter 3 examines the use of biological weapons and their threats to community health and security. Current and ongoing challenges to the eradication of biological weapons are explored, as is the current bioterrorism threat to the United States. Chapter 4 begins to explore how security challenges posed by health-related issues should be addressed. Underscored in this chapter is the necessity to bring health and security considerations together in United States national strategic thinking. Chapter 5 offers concluding remarks and recommendations for policy consideration. Throughout the report, sidebars are offered that examine an issue in greater depth, sometimes through the use of a case study. The appendix considers the use of the electronic Delphi method as a forecasting tool.