HIV/AIDS, security and the geopolitics of US-Nigerian relations

One of the more striking features of international responses to HIV/AIDS has been the framing of the pandernic in terms of security. But while a growing literature attempts to establish and explain putative linkages between HfV/AIDS and security, little work has addressed HIV/AIDS-security discourse with critical reflexivity or applied such an approach to particular cases. This article makes contributions in both these areas, locating discussion in the context of post-Cold War and post-9 / 11 shifts in geopolitics and biopolitics. It argues that while analyses employing securitization theory and biopolitics have advanced critical understanding of HIV/ AIDS and security, a more historicized approach and greater attention to geopolitics and gender are required. The article then reviews increasing US strategic interest in Africa and considers the emergence of particular formations of geopolitics and biopolitics around HIV/AIDS and security in the relationship between the US and Nigeria, drawing particular attention to the role of US-based think tanks. It shows how US strategic discourse has targeted the Nigerian state not just as a partner in energy security and counter-terrorism, but also as a key locale in the 'next wave' of HIV / AIDS. The article describes HIV / AIDS interventions that the US is supporting in Nigeria, identifies connections between HIV/AlDS relief and questions of security and gender, and considers some implications of the convergence of multiple security logics on Nigeria. The article concludes with reference to the political sociology of HIV/ AIDS relief and the era of formal colonialism.