From Rights to Beliefs: The Geopolitics of Securitising AIDS

Abstract

This essay extends research on the relationships between human security, biopolitics and geopolitics by examining the securitisation of HIV/AIDS. Taking the geopolitical moment of the end of the Cold War, we put forward two competing framings of AIDS as a geopolitical concern. One of these was liberal multiculturalism via an acceptance of a multilateral rights-based international framework, while the other was a form of unipolar colonialism whereby global governance was based on a subset of US national values. We then critically engage with both in relation to the development of international AIDS policies throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s. We conclude by reflecting on the wide-ranging implications of these pathways today.