IB Global Politics: Academic conference call on Pandemic Preparedness with @CFR

‘morning folks,

THIS is the call we’ve been waiting for. Next week, we’ll have the opportunity to participate in another conference call from the Council on Foreign Relations. This time, the call will be chaired by the Peabody, Polk, and Pulitzer prize winning journalist Laurie Garrett. Dr. Garrett will be leading the discussion on a topic near and dear to all of our hearts; the geopolitics of pandemics. The call will occur from 12 to 1pm on Thursday, 21 November. In you are interested in attending this call (which would mean missing lunch &/or 5th period that day), please reply to this blog post and I will make the necessary arrangements for you. Regardless of whether you attend the call or not, please take the opportunity to read the following articles. Those of you wishing to submit a commentary for feedback should use the following prompt to frame your response, How does the Garrett frame the issue (or issues) in terms of a geopolitical challenge or conflict? What solutions does Garrett provide? To what extent do these seem reasonable?
1) Laurie Garrett, "Biology's Brave New World: The Promise and Perils of the Synbio Revolution," Foreign Affairs, November/December 2013.
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140156/laurie-garrett/biologys-brave-new-world&cid=emc-ACC_Fall13_BCK-Garrett-FA_112113
2) Laurie Garrett, "Why MERS Virus is So Scary," CNN.com, May 31, 2013.
http://www.cfr.org/public-health-threats-and-pandemics/why-mers-virus-so-scary/p30810?cid=emc-ACC_Fall13_BCK-Garrett-MERS_112113
3) Laurie Garrett, "Why a Saudi Virus Is Spreading Alarm," Expert Briefing, CFR.org, May 29, 2013.
http://www.cfr.org/public-health-threats-and-pandemics/why-saudi-virus-spreading-alarm/p30799?cid=emc-ACC_Fall13_BCK-Garrett-Saudi_112113
4) Laurie Garrett, "The Big One?," Foreign Policy, April 24, 2013.
http://www.cfr.org/china/big-one/p30547?cid=emc-ACC_Fall13_BCK-Garrett-theBIGone_112113
As always, thanks to the folks at the Council on Foreign Relations and @CFRAcademic for helping to support our participation in this project.