Vaccine nationalism, violent extremist problematique and state management of combat-related deaths

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed in stark terms the perpetuation of global apartheid and the persistence of the yawning gap between developed and developing countries. Mzukisi Qobo, Matlala Setlhalogile, and Mills Soko, the authors of the first article in this issue of African Security, “The Political Economy of Global Vaccine Nationalism: Towards Building Agency for Africa’s Drug Manufacturing Capacity,” critique the morally repugnant predatory behavior of pharmaceutical firms in the global north that take advantage of the health insecurity crisis to increase the prices of much needed vaccines for people in the global south. In doing so, the authors also point, at least implicitly to the structural racism that underpins the movements by countries in the global north toward vaccine nationalism. They suggest a pragmatic prescription: African countries, representing the marginalized segments of the globe, should engage in scientific collaboration to build local capacity for manufacturing vaccines, develop human capital and nurture value chains to be able to counter the health insecurity that ultimately follows from global pandemics. However, addressing this health security concern will require collaboration between rich and poor countries. Rich countries must be willing to work with the WTO on an agreement to introduce intellectual property waivers that would allow poor countries to manufacture successful vaccines. At the same time, poor countries need to focus on practical ways of encouraging technology transfers to, and skills upgrades of, their populations. This outstanding piece has both scholarly and policy implications. The second article, “Comparative Perspectives on Linkages between Violent Extremism and Organized Crime in Africa,” by Anouar Boukhars and Catherine Lena Kelly, makes an excellent contribution to understanding another element of insecurity on the African continent, viz., the nexus between violent extremism and organized crime. Conceptually, Boukhars and Kelly draw on the recent literature on concatenated violence to situate the coexistence-cooperation-convergence spectrum of these two challenges and threats to security in Africa (the terror-crime dynamic). This article not only makes a useful contribution to the African security literature, it also raises a number of significant issues that ought to be taken up by scholars who want to understand the complex nature of criminal networks and sustenance of terror organizations. The authors argue that this complex crime-terror nexus is one of the defining features of contemporary African security. This is supported by the authors’ empirical examination of the cases of Sahel-Sahara, Lake Chad Basin, and the Horn of Africa. How African AFRICAN SECURITY 2022, VOL. 15, NO. 1, 1–3 https://doi.org/10.1080/19392206.2022.2059923