Re-mapping the Borders of Imperial Health: The World Health Organization and the International Politics of Regionalization in French North Africa, 1945–1956

Abstract

This chapter looks at the controversy surrounding the assignment of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria to one of the World Health Organization’s Regional Offices. Various countries from the Eastern Mediterranean Region—Egypt in particular—made the claim that in terms of culture and health issues, these countries naturally formed part of the same region as the countries of the Middle East. The French colonial administration, however, argued that these territories, with their long-standing connections to Europe, would be better suited for admission to the Europe Region of the Organization. By exploring the politics of health and regional belonging in the 1940s and 1950s, this chapter argues that in many cases, colonial politics trumped actual health data when it came to re-mapping the borders of health regions in this period. This chapter draws on official documents of the World Health Organization as well as archival materials from the French Diplomatic Archives.

I am extremely grateful to Herrick Chapman, Claire Edington, Sarah Griswold, and Rachel Kantrowitz, who all read and commented on earlier drafts of this chapter. I would also like to thank Fred Cooper for his insights on some of the more complex nuances of French Union citizenship and the place of Morocco and Tunisia in France’s postwar empire.