475 Asian Survey, Vol. 45, Issue 3, pp. 475–495, ISSN 0004-4687, electronic ISSN 1533-838X. © 2005 by The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions website, at http://www.ucpress.edu/journals/rights.htm. Mely Caballero-Anthony is Assistant Professor at the Institute of De- fence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The author would like to thank Amitav Acharya, Yuen Foong Khong, Richard Higgott, and the anonymous reviewers of Asian Survey for their valuable comments. Email: ismcanthony@ntu.edu.sg. SARS IN ASIA Crisis, Vulnerabilities, and Regional Responses Mely Caballero-Anthony Abstract This article examines lessons learned from the recent Severe Acute Respira- tory Syndrome crisis in East and Southeast Asia, arguing that the wide-ranging impact of infectious diseases makes it imperative for states to treat these dis- eases as security concerns. “Securitizing” infectious diseases provides urgency for mobilizing resources and strengthening regional cooperation. Adding infec- tious diseases to the security agenda allows for better handling of sudden outbreaks that endanger lives and threaten the survival of nation-states; this is also in line with the region’s concept of comprehensive security. Introduction No sooner had East and Southeast Asia begun to recover from the impact of the Iraq War when Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) suddenly hit the region in early 2003. Fatally infectious, the disease brought not only a serious threat to weakened economies but its appearance and spread also awakened countries to a clear and present danger, making af- fected nations aware of how vulnerable their security could be—something beyond even what their military defenses could guarantee. If the world changed after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, so has the impact of infectious diseases on security in most countries, particularly in Asia—the region most affected by SARS. 1 From the 1. Note, in this article, “Asia” refers generally to the East and Southeast Asian region. Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/as/article-pdf/45/3/475/342669/as_2005_45_3_475.pdf by guest on 30 May 2020