The Covid-19 crisis has caused leaders in all affected countries to turn to their armed forces for support in an ever-expanding range of roles. Armed forces are being tasked to provide capabilities that, in many instances, go beyond what they have provided in past crises. It must be expected that these demands will continue to mount even as the current crisis abates, as the pandemic is expected to remain a top national concern for months to come.
The Bulgarian armed forces, just like the armed forces in many other countries, have three main roles: defense of the sovereignty and the national territory, contribution to international peace and security, and contribution to internal security, particularly in times of crises. In peacetime, the third of these roles is most visible to society. The military contribution during the Covid-19 pandemic makes no exception.
The lecture introduces the notion of "curse of the scale" and the need to seek economies of scale. It outlines the cooperation mechanisms in NATO and EU formats, and possble levels of cooperation and coordination in the national security sector, as well as the phases in the capability delivery process in which such coordination needs to take place.