Dozens of armies around the world canceled their military operations and placed their troops in the service of the health emergency that the pandemic made a priority. Part of the military industrial activity also stopped. With finances stifled by the fight against the coronavirus, many states are expected to adjust their military objectives in the coming years, writes the Spanish newspaper El País today.
The United States superpower suspended joint maneuvers with Asian allies such as South Korea or the Philippines, and canceled at the last minute what was going to be the largest movement of US troops in Europe in more than 25 years (6000 soldiers had already moved) .
Moscow responded by aborting the military maneuvers it was to carry out near its western borders. The Atlantic Alliance (NATO), for its part, ended its operations in the Arctic eight days ahead of schedule.
North Korea, which still does not recognize any case of contagion in the country, responded to the suspension of its enemies’ military maneuvers with artillery evidence, a veritable “sea of flames” as Pyongyang described. March was, by the way, the month with the most ballistic tests since Kim Jong-un took power in 2011, says the El País article.
Charlie Dunlap, a retired US general and current director of the Center for Law, Ethics and Homeland Security at Duke University, warns of the danger that all armies will have their efforts focused on the virus. “By focusing on the virus, Nato members are neglecting other dangers. Their opponents are aware that they are now more vulnerable to a cyber attack, for example,” the expert told El País.
