The New Bacterial Warfare
Warzones in the Middle East have led to geopolitical instability, displacement and human suffering. An unnoticed side-effect of these conflicts that have destroyed medical infrastructure is an alarming surge of multidrug-resistant infections. These diseases affect not only civilian populations in Syria, Iraq and Yemen but also members of foreign armed forces, thus spreading globally. Vinh-Kim Nguyen is a practicing medical doctor and an anthropologist who draws on molecular epidemiology, global health, and social theory to argue for a paradigm shift in eliminating infectious diseases. In a conversation with IWM Rector Shalini Randeria, he will discuss the causes and consequences of this emerging global threat in the wake of the wars in the Middle East.