Policy and Legal Frameworks of Using Armed Forces for Domestic Disaster Response and Relief

Abstract

This article reviews roles of military forces in Europe in support of civilian authorities in crises caused by natural or manmade incidents and disasters. These roles are shaped by five trendssome in effect since the end of the Cold war, others more recent. These are: transition from civil defence to civil protection; expanding noncombat roles of the armed forces; cooperation with an increasing number of actors; respective proliferation of modes of contribution; and searching ways to contribute to the resilience of both states and local communities. The authors elaborate and provide examples for these five trends and conclude by highlighting some enduring characteristics of the military contributions.

Evolving Models of Using Armed Forces in Domestic Disaster Response and Relief

“…Sometimes solutions offered by the military are the 'ultima ratio' in saving lives and providing survival capabilities; there is hardly a scenario where military forces can be excluded. 22 The military are under pressure for quick and comprehensive transformation. The core problem is that the simultaneous change in the strategic environment and domestic security needs generate political, military and management dilemmas about the roles, tasks, organisation, equipment and operations of the military at home and abroad.…”

Domestic Military Deployments in Response to COVID-19

“…Various aspects of state capacity are also expected to shape whether and how militaries are deployed domestically in disaster relief ( Ratchev & Tagarev, 2018 ). Three related, but analytically distinct, aspects of capacity are particularly salient in this context: the ability of the military to participate in disaster response, the state’s ability to provide public goods and services (administrative capacity), and the state’s ability to maintain internal order and enforce compliance with the law (coercive capacity).…”

“…Importantly, military capacity in disaster response is not determined solely by budgetary resources. Prior experience with disasters or with supporting civilians in emergencies more generally could also cultivate the social expectation that militaries would help and provide militaries with the skills and capabilities required to do so ( Ratchev & Tagarev, 2018 ). This fosters the theoretical expectation that contexts with frequent or severe natural disasters would be more likely to rely on the military for disaster response.…”

“…As we show below, nearly every state used its armed forces to respond to the pandemic. In part, this is unsurprising since disaster response is part of the mission portfolio of many contemporary militaries ( Bruneau & Matei, 2013 ; Ratchev & Tagarev, 2018 ). However, our understanding of when and how militaries are used in such contexts remains incomplete, partly because the variation in the particularities of disasters makes systematic, cross-national, investigations of hypotheses about what drives domestic deployments in disaster response difficult to implement.…”

“…This article contributes to filling that gap by leveraging the COVID-19 pandemic’s global reach to systematically evaluate common hypotheses about when and how militaries are used to respond to domestic disasters in a setting that is globally comparable. A significant theoretical and case-based scholarship addressing the use of militaries in disaster relief (e.g., Croissant et al, 2010 ; Egnell, 2008 ; Gibson-Fall, 2021 ; Head & Mann, 2009 ; Kalkman, 2021 ; Kapucu, 2011 ; Kohn, 2003 ; Laksmana, 2010 ; Levinson, 2008 ; Schrader, 1993 ; Tkacz, 2006 ; Malešič, 2015 ; Pion-Berlin, 2016 ; Pramanik, 2018 ; Ratchev & Tagarev, 2018 ; Tagarev & Ratchev, 2018 ) and research on the securitization of healthcare and disaster response more generally (e.g., Bernard, 2013 ; Curley & Herington, 2011 ; Chigudu, 2016 ; Davies, 2008 ; Enemark, 2009 ; Kamradt-Scott & McInnes, 2012 ; Kelle, 2007 ; McInnes & Lee, 2006 ; McInnes & Rushton, 2013 ; Roemer-Mahler & Elbe, 2016 ; Oshewolo & Nwozor, 2020 ; Watterson & Kamradt-Scott, 2016 ) has generated important hypotheses about what drives domestic deployments in disaster response. 1 These hypotheses tend to highlight the role of disaster-related, state (including military) capacity, and social and political factors in driving the use of militaries in disaster response.…”