Environmental Engineering Reference
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of the pandemic will soon create an immunosuppressed military force, which by its
very nature will be highly vulnerable to biological and chemical weapons. Military
readiness and capabilities can be further compromised when the burden of disease
generates costs that limit defence budgets (cbacI and cSIS 2000). For states that
are already in political chaos, even the perception of a weakened military can make
them susceptible to foreign aggression. It is noteworthy that pandemics historically
had little effect on humankind's desire to make war. Striking at the very heart of the
Hundred Years war, the black Death saw the continuous search of edward III of
england for the human resources and treasure to sustain the war with France (bray
1996, 69). Similarly, woodrow wilson insisted that the lives lost to the Spanish
influenza must be balanced against those that could be saved with a speedy end of
world war I.
by depleting the number of troops available for combat and support, the
pandemic also has the potential to affect military operations, even war outcomes.
In her testimony before the U.S. Senate committee on Foreign relations, laurie
Garrett (2005b) asked this question:
If a nation is fighting wars on two fronts involving more than 200,000 troops, and H5n1
turns out to mirror the 1918 flu in that it takes its highest toll among young adults, how
can the armies continue to carry out their operations? If, in addition, their enemy practices
suicide bombings, and therefore cares not whether it is infected with a deadly virus, how
might the pandemic affect the course of the wars?
The 1918 Spanish influenza provides the most recent case to examine the impact
of the pandemic on the course of war and war outcome. the pandemic slowed
perceptibly military operations on both sides. It forced the british troops to postpone
their scheduled attack on la becque and made it harder for the Germans to advance
and harder to retreat (crosby 2003). the pandemic nonetheless did not stop military
operations, nor did it affect the final outcome of the war (largely because a pandemic
usually affects each side equally) (crosby 2003). Provided that neither side of the
conflict enjoys 'epidemiological superiority' (McNeill 1977), the future pandemic is
less likely to become a significant contributor of the final outcome. That being said, in
certain cases 'differential immunity' did exist and made military forces from certain
countries more susceptible to an infectious disease (Kelley 2000). the military
effect of this differential immunity has been well recorded in the past. For example,
the plague of athens affected the course and outcome of the Peloponnesian war by
devastating athens but not the Peloponnese. owing to differential immunity, the old
world epidemics became the 'strongest ally' and 'deadliest weapon' of the Spaniards
in conquering the Aztec and Inca empires (Karlen 1995, ch. 7). while the armed
forces of the U.S., canada, and other developed countries are among the best trained
and organised in the world, the fact that their soldiers grow up under good hygienic
conditions also means that they are at more risk of contracting exotic pathogens
from foreign military theatres than members of many potential opposing forces who
spend their childhood in hygienic squalor (Kelley 2000). If the upcoming pandemic
 
 
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