Non-traditional security and infectious diseases in ASEAN: going beyond the rhetoric of securitization to deeper institutionalization

Abstract The transnational security challenges posed by non-traditional security (NTS) issues like pandemics are pushing ASEAN to deepen regional security cooperation. However, unless regional efforts at addressing complex NTS threats like pandemics are reinforced by a more holistic, human security approach, many of the current initiatives will remain inadequate. Keywords: Non-traditional security threatsregional cooperationASEAN Acknowledgments Notes *Mely Caballero-Anthony is Associate Professor and Head of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. She is also the Secretary General of the Consortium on Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia). Her current publications include, Regional Security in Southeast Asia: Beyond the ASEAN Way (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2005) and Non-Traditional Security in Asia: Dilemmas of Securitisation (Ashgate, 2006). 1 The concept of 'securitization' that is adopted here is largely drawn from the 'securitization framework' advanced by the Copenhagen school and is broadly applied. Briefly, to 'securitize' is to frame an issue in security terms and to persuade a relevant audience of its immediate danger. The ultimate objective of 'securitizing' an issue (e.g., infectious diseases) is to address the existential threats that it poses to a given referent object. For a more detailed discussion, see CitationBuzan, Waever and de Wilde (1998) and CitationWaever (1995). 2 For a review of the concept of 'securitization', see Szreter 2003: 33–4. 3 Tamiflu is the only flu vaccine approved in the United States, which makes the antiviral drug shortage even more severe.