Betting the Nation on Globalization

The rapid spread of SARS in several countries has historical precedence in the influenza epidemic of 1918. According to the author, 25% of Americans contracted the flu virus and 650,000 died from it. Worldwide, an estimated 70 million died from the flu. Just as the movement of men during World War I enabled the virus to spread internationally, the movement of individuals who have contracted SARS has created a public health crisis across national boundaries. This article argues that the rapid spread of SARS belies commonly made assumptions about globalization in the late twentieth century. SARS can have potentially adverse consequences for American corporations, who have production facilities in countries such as China. SARS also highlights the persistence of the nation-state in processes of globalization. Individual governments insist on employing self-devised measures to combat the spread of viruses, in spite of directives from international organizations like the World Health Organization. – YaleGlobal.