Global health crises and international cooperation: A comparative framing analysis of narratives told during cholera outbreaks in 1851 and 2017

This thesis explores the following questions: can global health crises provide effective opportunities for international cooperation? More specifically, what is the relationship between how a crisis is framed, and policy responses? To answer these questions, this thesis conducted a comparative case study and framing analysis of narratives told during two cholera outbreaks: the 1829 second cholera pandemic; and 2017 cholera outbreak in Yemen. This entailed analyzing proceedings of the 1851 International Sanitary Conference, 2017 Security Council meeting records, and Global Task Force for Cholera Control documents. Documents were analysed using two techniques: (1) narrative analysis to identify narratives constructed around the two cases; and (2) framing analysis to identify which global health frames actors used in narratives. This thesis argues that health crises can provide opportunities for cooperation, if cooperation is framed as a global public good and if actors refer to existing norms and laws governing state behaviour.