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Improving Pandemic Response With Military Tools: Using Enhanced Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2022

Michael S. Baker ,
Deon V. Canyon ,
Sebastian Kevany  and
Jacob Baker
Michael S. Baker*
Affiliation:
Independent Scholar, Lafayette, CA USA
Deon V. Canyon
Affiliation:
Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu, HI, USA
Sebastian Kevany
Affiliation:
Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu, HI, USA
Jacob Baker
Affiliation:
Georgetown University of Applied Studies, School of Continuing Studies, Washington, DC, USA
*
Corresponding author: Michael S. Baker, E-mail: bakersurgeon@gmail.com
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Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic rocked the world, spurring the collapse of national commerce, international trade, education, air travel, and tourism. The global economy has been brought to its knees by the rapid spread of infection, resulting in widespread illness and many deaths. The rise in nationalism and isolationism, ethnic strife, disingenuous governmental reporting, lockdowns, travel restrictions, and vaccination misinformation have caused further problems. This has brought into stark relief the need for improved disease surveillance and health protection measures. National and international agencies that should have provided earlier warning in fact failed to do so. A robust global health network that includes enhanced cooperation with Military Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets in conjunction with the existing international, governmental, and nongovernment medical intelligence networks and allies and partners would provide exceptional forward-looking and early-warning and is a proactive step toward making our future safe. This will be achieved both by surveilling populations for new biothreats, fusing and disseminating data, and then reaching out to target assistance to reduce disease spread in unprotected populations.

Keywords

ISRmedical intelligencebiodefense shieldhealth diplomacysoft powerbiothreatspandemic early warning
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e254
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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