COVID-19: Patterns in Domestic Military Operations

In the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, militaries in several countries deployed to support civilian national authorities. This demand for military assistance comes on top of a quantitative and qualitative change in domestic military operations due to climate change, notably in containing wildfires and floods as well as increasing deployment in public order duties in some countries. This session provides country-specific observations, identifies comparative findings, and draws out broader implications around the deployment of the military in domestic roles, whether law enforcement or dealing with other state emergencies (commonly known as aid to civil authorities). Similarly, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought forth many challenges to both human and national security, as militaries are deployed in tasks not normally associated with their mandated roles and responsibilities. This session establishes how and in what roles the military was deployed, what challenges this posed in terms of capacity, as well as overall governance and multisectoral cooperation.

The significance of this research stems from the unprecedented nature of the response by militaries to the pandemic. Never had armed forces been deployed domestically on a global level; rather, domestic military deployments usual occur following local or regional emergencies, often natural disaster or civil unrest. The session enables conclusions to be drawn regarding trends in the use of armed forces in a domestic situation and how this affects the structure of armed forces, national resilience, and emergency management across the globe.