Swine flu has already shaken markets. While the scope of the current outbreak remains unknown, experts say a severe pandemic could drive productivity losses, dampen trade, and lower product demand at a time of preexisting economic frailty.

A Council on Foreign Relations media conference call about the current state of the swine flu outbreak.

David Dobbs examines why the swine flu seems to be more deadly in Mexico.

China increasingly asserts itself as an emerging economic superpower, but the country also continues to face high-profile setbacks that tarnish its brand.

Don Oberdorfer, an expert on the two Koreas, says the recent street protests ostensibly against the import of U.S. beef are much more political protests against the new conservative government in Seoul.

As China rebuilds from the great quake, a changed country is emerging with some surprising winners and losers.

Harvey Fineberg, who now runs the Institute of Medicine, was commissioned to analyze the 1976 Swine Flu Fiasco. This article summarizes his warnings regarding mistakes that ought not to be repeated.

The ACLU discusses the need for a public health -- not a law enforcement/national security -- approach to preparing the country for a pandemic.

The response to virulent animal diseases is improving, but major outbreaks continue, costing the animal industry millions and increasing fears of a global pandemic.

This report from the United States Institute of Peace and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) Task Force on Public Health and Conflict details the results of a symposium on the implications of the North Korean famine of the mid-1990s.

A discussion of Garrett’s newest Foreign Affairs article:

A flood of public and private money has started to flow to the developing world, funding a vast array of efforts to combat AIDS, TB, malaria, and other killer diseases. Unfortunately, writes Garrett, much of that “is leaking away without result,” doing little to improve basic public health on the ground.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports on implications of climate change for coastal systems and low-lying areas and six important policy-relevant issues that have emerged.

The World Health Organization's Department of Public Health and Environment has prepared a basic facts sheet about the radioactive Polonium-210 as a possible health concern.

This Congressional Research Service report examines the history and social consequences of the AIDS epidemic in Africa and discusses its implications for U.S. foreign policy.

Governments increased funding and international cooperation to limit the spread of avian flu. But the unpredictability of a potential pandemic raises concerns over global preparedness.

Laurie Garrett, CFR senior fellow for global health, says the world is in a better position to handle a potential avian flu pandemic than it was two years ago. But she warns that we still don't have "a toolkit that can stop this virus from circulating" if it evolves to allow easy human-to-human transmission.

Botswana’s President Festus G. Mogae speaks with CFR members about the use of diamonds in development and the problem of HIV/AIDS in his country.