Area 5: 1st "Safety, Biomedicine and International Relations" conference

Friday 19 September 2025 | 9am-12pm | Espace Philippe Séguin, room 003

Conference organised by Céline Paillette (Inserm, Sirice), Mark Harrison (University of Oxford) and Benoît Pouget (Sciences Po Aix - MESOPOLHIS) with the support of Sciences Po Aix/MESOPOLHIS (UMR 7064), UMR Sirice (8138, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Sorbonne Université, CNRS), the Inserm History Committee and Oxford University.

The conferences Safety(s), Biomedicine and International Relationss aim to analyse the issues of sovereignty and power linked to biomedical and public health issues, in particular 'epidemics', in Europe and on a global scale. Microbial aggression has long been identified as a major, even structuring, factor in relations between peoples, powers and different parts of the world. It is both a challenge and an opportunity. The aim of the conferences is to place contemporary situations in the context of the 'long term', to question biomedical and public health issues - research, public health policy, defence, security, armament - by focusing on - but not confining ourselves to - the state prism in the different phases and facets of globalisation. The conferences Safety(s), Biomedicine and International Relations will analyse the classic questions about the exercise of sovereignty over a territory threatened by health risks and/or a threat to other powers, in the light of international flows and systems, including all types of actors - private and public organisations - in health security governance processes. The aim of the conferences is to gain a better understanding of the diplomatic processes involved in the 'resilience' of powers in the face of health crises, and the possible geostrategic shifts involved. 

The conferences on Security, Biomedicine, and International Relations analyze issues of sovereignty and power related to biomedical and public health issues, particularly those related to "epidemics," in Europe and globally. Microbial aggression has long been identified as a major, even structuring, element in relations between peoples, powers, and different parts of the world. It is both a challenge and an opportunity. The conferences aim to place contemporary situations in a "long-term" perspective, to question biomedical and public health issues-research, public health policy, defence, security, armament-by focusing, without limiting themselves to it, on the state's perspective in the different phases and facets of globalization. The conferences on Security, Biomedicine, and International Relations will analyze classic questions about the exercise of sovereignty in a territory threatened by health risks and/or threatening to other powers, in light of international circulations and systems, including states-all types of actors-and private and public organizations involved in health security governance processes. The conferences thus aim to better understand the diplomatic processes of 'resilience' of powers in the face of health crises and their possible geostrategic reconfigurations.

Programme :