ABSTRACT
This chapter studies both conflictual and cooperational illness metaphors for international relations: everything from descriptions portraying international relations as plagued by violence and war to descriptions of international relations as suffering from curable diseases. After sketching associations that we attach to illnesses and injuries in general, it gives examples of expert usage relating to international relations: excerpts from IR theories, speeches of foreign policy leaders and media coverage of world news operating with the terms and logic of medical procedures and health care. In addition to demonstrating how illness metaphors work in practice, it analyzes recommendations that these metaphors carry with them. It outlines policy choices that seem appropriate in the context of diagnosing international diseases and prescribing treatments for them – both along the conflictual lines of surgical strikes and in the cooperational version of consulting experts to ensure the continued well-being of essentially healthy liberal democracies.
