HIV/AIDS and the Changing Landscape of War in Africa

Abstract

Stefan Elbe of the University of Warwick examines the changing nature of warfare in Africa as a result of the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS infection among its armed forces and assesses its impact not only on combatants but also on African societies as a whole. Elbe discusses how the virus has been used increasingly as a weapons of war, a trend, he argues, that can be reversed only if the combatants themselves become involved in local and international efforts to reduce its spread.