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Considers whether, when, & how epidemic disease threatens national security. The severity of the global infectious disease problem is scrutinized before comparing definitions of human, national, & international security. The relationship between infectious disease & national security is then examined. Two main causal mechanisms by which infectious diseases can threaten national security are explored: (1) Infectious diseases may contribute to violent conflict by shifting the international balance of power, fostering foreign policy conflict, or generating economic or political instability. (2) Infectious diseases can change the outcome of international conflicts either deliberately via biological weapons or public health targeting or inadvertently by eroding military readiness. Attention turns to whether these processes endanger the national security of the US, finding that infectious diseases do not challenge US security as directly or to the degree claimed by many scholars & practitioners; the most direct disease threat to the US lies in its vulnerability to bioweapons attack. Less direct, longer-term threats include the health of the armed forces & the stability of key regions, eg, Russia. The issue of whether it matters that scholars & policymakers rhetorically link epidemic disease & national security despite a weak empirical link is addressed. Such connections can undermine efforts at international health prevention as they strip away any moral obligation for advanced industrialized nations to respond. Why it matters whether AIDS & other infectious diseases are seen as security threats or primarily health & development problems is pondered. 2 Figures. J. Zendejas

Peterson reviews 'Interests, Institutions, and Information: Domestic Politics and International Relations' by Helen V. Milner.

'Institutions and Democratic Statecraft' edited by Metin Heper, Ali Kazancigil and Bert A. Rockman is reviewed.