Securitization of a Humanitarian Crisis: Norway's International Response to Ebola

Abstract

The Ebola epidemic of 2014-2015 was the largest Ebola outbreak ever, killing over 11,000 people. In this thesis, I explore the Norwegian response to this crisis, focusing particularly on two projects conducted by the government: a field hospital in Sierra Leone and a vaccination trial in Guinea. Adopting a theoretical approach from International Relations, social constructivism, I unpack the government’s agendas, values and motivations underlying its Ebola response, and relate them to debates structuring Norwegian foreign and global health policies. I found that the Norwegian government had a dual ambition: helping those affected (humanitarian) and protecting the Norwegian population from the virus (biosecurity). I argue that the biosecurity objective became predominant after the repatriation of an infected health worker to Oslo in October 2014, leading to a partial securitization of the response. This security framing opened a window of opportunity for the government to mobilize exceptional financial resources and implement innovative projects to tackle the crisis. Finally, I argue that Norway’s Ebola response is representative of the Norwegian global health priorities: an approach privileging vertical, technology-based interventions, promoting multilateralism, and mixing idealpolitik and realpolitik.