Colin McInnes & Kelley Lee 
Global Health and International Relations [PDF ebook] 

The long separation of health and International Relations, as distinct academic fields and policy arenas, has now dramatically changed. Health, concerned with the body, mind and spirit, has traditionally focused on disease and infirmity, whilst International Relations has been dominated by concerns of war, peace and security. Since the 1990s, however, the two fields have increasingly overlapped. How can we explain this shift and what are the implications for the future development of both fields?

Colin Mc Innes and Kelley Lee examine four key intersections between health and International Relations today – foreign policy and health diplomacy, health and the global political economy, global health governance and global health security. The explosion of interest in these subjects has, in large part, been due to ‘real world’ concerns – disease outbreaks, antibiotic resistance, counterfeit drugs and other risks to human health amid the spread of globalisation. Yet the authors contend that it is also important to understand how global health has been socially constructed, shaped in theory and practice by particular interests and normative frameworks.

This groundbreaking book encourages readers to step back from problem-solving to ask how global health is being problematized in the first place, why certain agendas and issue areas are prioritised, and what determines the potential solutions put forth to address them? The palpable struggle to better understand the health risks facing a globalized world, and to strengthen collective action to deal with them effectively, begins – they argue – with a more reflexive and critical approach to this rapidly emerging subject.

Table of Content

Acknowledgements vi

List of Abbreviations viii

List of Boxes, Tables and Figures xi

Introduction 1

1. What is Global Health? 6

2. Constructing a New Agenda: International Relations and Global Health 23

3. Health, Foreign Policy and Global Health Diplomacy 49

4. Global Health and the International Political Economy 78

5. Global Health Governance 101

6. Security and Health 130

Conclusion 158

Notes 164

References 167

Index 193

About the author

Colin Mc Innes is UNESCO Professor of HIV/AIDS, Education and Health Security in Africa at Aberystwyth University

Kelley Lee is a Professor in the Centre on Global Change & Health, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine