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| Research article summary (published 30 Dec 2008): |
La Grippe and World War I: conflict participation and pandemic confrontation.
Full Abstract
This paper assesses whether a nation-state's participation in conflict influences its ability to confront global pandemic or disease. Two alternative hypotheses are proposed. First, increased levels of conflict participation lead to increased abilities of states to confront pandemics. A second and alternative hypothesis is that increased conflict participation decreases the ability of states to confront pandemics. The hypotheses are tested through the ultimate case of war and pandemic: the 1918 Influenza pandemic (Spanish Flu or 'La Grippe') that killed 20-100 million people worldwide. Using simple correlation and case illustrations, we test these hypotheses with special focus upon the ability of the participant countries to confront the pandemic. The findings suggest, in a limited and varied fashion, that while neutral countries enjoyed the lowest levels of pandemic deaths, of the participant countries greater levels of conflict participation correlate with lower levels of pandemic deaths. The paper concludes with some propositions regarding the relationship between the current 'war on terror' and prospective pandemics such as avian flu.
Author information
Author/s: Steele, B J (BJ); Collins, C D (CD);
Affiliation: Department of Political Science, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA. bjsteele(-atsign-)ku.edu
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Historical Article; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal: Global public health (Glob Public Health), published in England. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2009-; vol 4 (issue 2) : pp 183-204
Dates: Created 2009/03/31; Completed 2009/07/01;
PMID: 19333808, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 7/1/2009, IMS Date: )
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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