HIV/Aids in Africa and U.S. security interests

Abstract

This article analyzes, through government documents and reports, how the United States under the Clinton administration began to consider the proliferation of HIV/Aids not only as a domestic health issue, but also as a threat to international security. According to this view, the Aids epidemic must be dealt with at an international level, for the disease does not respect national boundaries, affecting U.S. citizens at home and abroad. During the Bush Administration this vision is reinforced, and the need to limit the advance of the epidemic in Africa is admitted, which, if ignored, presents a great potential threat to U.S. security interests, as it accelerates the rise of failed States and instability.