As the stalled progress on the road to a Pandemic Treaty reminds us, the control of infectious disease is inherently an international issue. Whether we are talking about pandemics, anti-microbial resistance, or assistance to nations coping with the burden of endemic infections, relations between nation states and supra-national bodies such as the WHO and WTO are a key element of the problem. However, the dialogue between scholars of international relations and those working in the field of public health has been sporadic. Insight into the ways in which nation states and – increasingly non-governmental organisations – operate in relation to disease emergencies is urgently required. This workshop examines various aspects of the history of disease and international relations with a view to better understanding the political dynamics involved. infectious disease has long been at the heart of cooperation and competition between nations and there are some common threads – if not precise analogies – that may assist us in dealing with our present difficulties. At the same time, we aim to highlight new work in a field of history that has been unjustly neglected.