Please join us at GLOBIS for another Friday Forum this Friday, 10 March, from 2:00 to 3:00pm when Dr. Stephen Shellman will present his research entitled, "AIDS and Violent Conflict: The Indirect Effects of Disease on National Security." He has co-authored this piece with Dr. Susan Peterson, Professor of Government at the College of William and Mary. A brief abstract follows:
The popular press, policy officials, and academic publications increasingly warn of the negative effects on national security of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes it. Despite these increasingly vocal pleas, however, the idea that HIV/AIDS erodes national security is not conventional wisdom within the international relations discipline. In this paper, we empirically test the link between HIV/AIDS and two aspects of national security, the severity of human rights abuses and civil conflict. Specifically, we examine the direct and indirect effects of adult HIV infection rates in 1999 and 2001 across 112 countries on the likelihood and intensity of state-imposed human rights violations and civil conflict. We find that as HIV/AIDS prevalence rates increase, so too does the severity of human rights abuses and civil conflict. HIV/AIDS has no direct impact on such abuses and civil conflict, however. Rather, it influences national security indirectly through its impact on the social, political, and economic institutions of the state.
In addition, if anyone is interested in presenting a seminar paper, thesis, prospectus, or dissertation to an interested and informed audience in preparation for academic conferences, please contact Regan Damron at the email address or phone number listed below.
GLOBIS is located in historic Franklin House on the corner of Thomas St. and Broad St. at the Northern edge of campus. Please email redamron@uga.edu or call 542-6633 for directions.
Regards,
Regan Damron
Research Associate
Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS)
School of Public & International Affairs
The University of Georgia
