This open access book provides a comparative analysis of the deployment of the military in domestic operations, the use of the armed forces during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of that deployment on civil-military relations in 26 countries worldwide. The book examines the legal and constitutional regulations under which the military can serve in domestic roles, and the extent of domestic deployment before the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on the roles in which the military served during the pandemic, the resources available, and the readiness and effectiveness of the military response. The volume addresses whether or not the pandemic response was securitized, the extent of civilian oversight and control, the accountability measures in place, and the impact of the COVID-19 deployment on the military’s image. The volume captures the lessons learnt from the COVID-19 deployment and the implications for future force design, structure, and organizational transformation. Since almost all countries used their military in some capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, this volume offers an opportunity to compare use of the armed forces to provide domestic humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

Lindy Heinecken (Ph.D., King’s College, London) is former Vice-Dean Research, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at the University of Stellenbosch.  She is past president of the International Sociology Association’s Research Committee 01: Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution.  She was formerly a researcher and Deputy Director of the Centre for Military Studies (CEMIS) at the South African Military Academy. She is also one of the pool of specialists conducting research for the South African Army and is a National Research Foundation B-rated researcher.  Her latest book is South Africa’s post-apartheid Military: Lost in transition and transformation (Springer, 2019).

Christian Leuprecht (Ph.D., Queen’s University) is Distinguished Professor, Department of Political Science and Economics, Royal Military College of Canada, Director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University, and Adjunct Research Professor, Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security, Charles Sturt University.  He is Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Military Journal and a former president of the International Sociology Association’s Research Committee 01: Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution.   He is an elected member of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada and a recipient of RMC’s Cowan Prize for Excellence in Research.