Titolo completo

Military Operations in Response to Domestic Emergencies and Global Pandemics: Italy

As the first Western country hit by COVID-19, Italy had to develop a nation-wide response to the pandemic before other countries did. Following a well-established tradition of domestic military deployments, the Italian Armed Forces were fully mobilised to provide logistical and medical support, including COVID-19 testing and vaccination, as well as to perform public order and law enforcement activities. The centrality of the Armed Forces in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic was also exemplified by the fact that, in the period 2021–2022, an Army officer performed the tasks of Special Commissioner for the COVID-19 emergency, entrusted with the overall management and coordination of the national response. The COVID-19 pandemic response further strengthened civil-military relations and civilian oversight was performed over the military. Overall, the reliance on the Armed Forces placed additional strain on the military and this reopened the debate on the role, tasks and size of the Armed Forces in Italy.