Should HIV/AIDS Be Securitized? The Ethical Dilemmas of Linking HIV/AIDS and Security

TLDR

The global AIDS pandemic has been framed as a security issue, a stance that could raise resources but also risks shifting focus to military actors, undermining civil liberties and public health goals. The article uses securitization theory to argue that framing HIV/AIDS as a security concern creates a complex normative dilemma. The authors conclude that while securitization theory does not resolve the dilemma, increased awareness enables stakeholders to link HIV/AIDS and security in ways that mitigate some risks.

Abstract

Should the global AIDS pandemic be framed as an international security issue? Drawing on securitization theory, this article argues that there is a complex normative dilemma at the heart of recent attempts to formulate the global response to HIV/AIDS in the language of international security. Although “securitizing” the AIDS pandemic could bolster international AIDS initiatives by raising awareness and resources, the language of security simultaneously pushes responses to the disease away from civil society toward military and intelligence organizations with the power to override the civil liberties of persons living with HIV/AIDS. The security framework, moreover, brings into play a “threat-defense” logic that could undermine international efforts to address the pandemic because it makes such efforts a function of narrow national interest rather than of altruism, because it allows states to prioritize AIDS funding for their elites and armed forces who play a crucial role in maintaining security, and because portraying the illness as an overwhelming “threat” works against ongoing efforts to normalize social perceptions regarding HIV/AIDS. These overlooked dangers give rise to a profound ethical dilemma as to whether or not the global AIDS pandemic should be portrayed as a security issue. The article concludes that securitization theory cannot resolve this complex dilemma, but that raising awareness of its presence does allow policy makers, activists, and scholars to begin drawing the links between HIV/AIDS and security in ways that at least minimize some of these dangers.