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Категорії та поняття: НАТО, пандемія COVID-19, дезінформація, фейки, міжнародна безпека, міжнародне співробітництво.
Об'єктом дослідження даної роботи є діяльність Північноатлантичного Альянсу в гуманітарній сфері.
Предметом дослідження виступає роль НАТО у міжнародному співробітництві з подолання світової пандемії COVID-19.
З огляду на актуальність, наукову і практичну значущість обраної теми, метою дослідження є вивчення та аналіз ролі НАТО у міжнародному співробітництві з подолання пандемії COVID-19.
Наукова новизна одержаних результатів. У даній роботі здійснено комплексне дослідження ролі НАТО у розвитку міжнародного співробітництва з подолання пандемії COVID-19:
а) вперше одержано комплексне і всебічне дослідження ролі НАТО у боротьбі з пандемією COVID-19: від вивчення коронавірусу як загрози до співпраці з міжнародними організаціями й надання допомоги як державам-членам, так й іншим країнам;
б) узагальнено особливості кампаній з дезінформації проти НАТО щодо виникнення та розповсюдження COVID-19;
в) вдосконалено розуміння ефективності боротьби з пандемією COVID-19 країн-членів НАТО й опонентів;
г) отримало подальший розвиток вивчення особливостей співпраці НАТО з державами-членами (а також країнами, що не є членами НАТО) у сфері охорони здоров’я з огляду на пандемію COVID-19.
Висновки. Оскільки пандемія COVID-19 є новим і безпрецедентним явищем, зокрема для НАТО, кількість наукових праць, присвячених аналізу цієї проблеми є відносно невеликою. Дослідженням ролі НАТО у подоланні пандемії COVID-19 займалися здебільшого іноземні науковці.
COVID-19 створив значну загрозу для безпеки НАТО. Хоч пандемія є кризою невійськового характеру, вона має великий дестабілізаційний ефект, який може розколоти суспільство, викликати недовіру до владних структур, спричинити кризові явища в багатьох сферах життя. Світовий спалах COVID-19 разом з іншими гібридними загрозами зробив значно ширшим поняття «безпека». У цьому випадку суб'єкти міжнародних відносин, зокрема НАТО, мали другорядну роль і не могли керувати процесами, але повинні були ефективно адаптуватися до нових умов.
Пандемія COVID-19 виявилася чудовим підґрунтям для створення й розповсюдження фейків. Міжнародні актори використали питання створення і розповсюдження вакцини, її розподіл, як засіб «м'якої сили» з метою посилення впливу, а також реалізації власних економічних інтересів. Російська Федерація розглядає Європу та Сполучені Штати основними конкурентами та вдається до поширення дезінформації навколо розробок Заходу, щоб просунути «Супутник V».
З моменту визнання COVID-19 пандемією, НАТО відіграло важливу роль у її подоланні: військові сили Альянсу неодноразово брали участь у плануванні, матеріально-технічному забезпеченні, організації польових шпиталів, транспортуванні пацієнтів, репатріації громадян, дезінфекції громадських місць і пунктів перетину кордону.
Пандемія COVID-19 надала цінний досвід у боротьбі з непередбачуваними невидимими загрозами, який має бути засвоєний НАТО з метою підтримки стабільності й безпеки як всередині організації, так і в сучасній системі міжнародних відносин. Отже, основними завданнями Альянсу були: чіткий аналіз нових загроз, розробка відповідних рішень, і, що не менш важливо, вдала співпраця між членами організації, а також партнерами, зокрема з ЄС.
НАТО використовувало координаційний підхід у співпраці з міжнародними організаціями. Альянс відзначився тісним співробітництвом з низкою організацій, зокрема ЄС; Управлінням ООН з координації гуманітарних питань, ВООЗ і Всесвітньою продовольчою програмою ООН. Протягом усієї пандемії відбувалося зміцнення співпраці з ЄС.
Попри те, що основна частина відповідальності за боротьбу з пандемію COVID-19 лежала на країнах-учасницях індивідуально, діяльність НАТО мала велике значення — як у підтримці заходів щодо пом’якшення наслідків пандемії, так і у забезпеченні готовності сил Альянсу протистояти опонентам.
EN : At the end of 2019, the world faced one of the most difficult and unprecedented challenges of the 21st century – the COVID-19 pandemic. It became a «black swan» for world politics, as no entity of international relations could have foreseen such a tremendous threat. The main tasks during the 2019- 2022 were the search for means to prevent the coronavirus spread and fight against infection, in particular, effective vaccine production. Despite the fact that the crisis caused by the pandemic has affected all spheres of life of each state (political, economic, cultural, social, etc.), the fight against COVID-19 has become a new platform for the struggle for world leadership, and the NATO bloc, which is studied in our paper, has not been an exception.
The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that since the second half of the 20th century, NATO has been one of the world’s leading international organizations and the most influential military and political bloc of the 21st century. Therefore, the Alliance’s contribution to overcoming the pandemic is an extremely important research topic. The study and analysis of NATO’s role in the COVID-19 fight is new for scientists, as the pandemic, which began almost 3 years ago, has continued up to present. Like all other actors in international relations, the North Atlantic Alliance was not ready for such events, but was able to adjust its policy to the new realities and develop effective solutions to counter the COVID-19. The effective response to the crisis phenomena, including assistance to other actors of world policy, fully proved the organization’s resilience.
As the COViD-19 pandemic is a global phenomenon, it must be resolved only through international cooperation – comprehensive interaction of actors (states, international organizations, etc.). NATO’s contribution as the most influential military bloc, which includes highly developed countries in Europe and South America, is significant. It includes as follows:
1. a comprehensive study of the COVID-19 pandemic as a threat;
2. active fight against the spread of disinformation against the NATO bloc, which is a threat to the entire Western world as a whole, as it contributes to the undermining of trust in these countries, as well as to the international image;
3. cooperation with international organizations and provision of assistance to member countries and partners.
Thus, the study of NATO’s role in international cooperation to address the COVID-19 pandemic is extremely relevant and important, as it proves the status of the organization as the most influential military-political bloc in the world, which not only can resolve its own tasks, but also help other actors in international relations.
The research object of our master’s thesis is the activity of NATO in the humanitarian field.
The subject of this research paper is the role of NATO in the international cooperation to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
The aim of the research is to study and analyze NATO's contribution to international cooperation in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. For achieving the above set aim we are to investigate the following specific research objectives:
– to analyze the state of scientific development and source base of research;
– to analyze the COVID-19 as a threat to NATO;
– to investigate the spread of misinformation and fakes related to the COVID-19 pandemic;
– to consider the «vaccine war» between NATO and its political opponents;
– to analyze the peculiarities of NATO’s functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic;
– to study the specifics of the COVID-19 pandemic in the NATO countries;
– to investigate the peculiarities of the COVID-19 pandemic in opponent countries, in particular the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China;
– to analyze the cooperation of NATO and international organizations in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic;
– to consider cooperation between NATO and member countries;
– to investigate the provision of NATO assistance to other countries.
The chronological frames of this study include the period from 2019 to 2022. The choice of the lower limit of the study - the end of 2019 – is due to the appearance of the first cases of infection with COVID-19 in the Chinese province of Wuhan. The choice of the upper limit – 2022 - is explained by the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic is still underway.
The geographical boundaries of the research cover the territories of the NATO member states as well as partially other countries of Europe and Asia.
As for the novelty of the research, it lies in the complex study of NATO’s role in the development of international cooperation to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic:
– for the first time, a complex research of the role of NATO in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted: from studying the coronavirus as a threat to investigating cooperation with international organizations and provision of assistance to member countries of the organization;
– the features of the disinformation campaigns against NATO regarding the emergence and spread of COVID-19 were summarized;
– the understanding of the effectiveness of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in NATO member countries and opponents was improved;
– the study of prospects for cooperation between Ukraine and NATO in the field of healthcare in view of the COVID-19 pandemic has gained new facts for further development.
The theoretical significance of the research lies in the possibility of a clearer understanding of NATO’s role in the development of international cooperation to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic as well as of further revisions or conduction of new studies of this problem based on the results of this thesis.
The applied significance of the research lies in the possibility of further use of the results by the following structures:
1. Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Ministry of Health of Ukraine for cooperation with NATO in the field of healthcare, in particular in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic;
2. NATO Public Diplomacy Division and Civilian Crisis Management Planning Unit as a comprehensive study of NATO’s role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic;
3. analytical centers (in particular, the NATO Scientific Information and Analytical Center of Vasyl Stefanyk Prykarpattia National University) for the purpose of further research into the problem.
The results of our research were presented and discussed at the following scientific conferences:
1. The IVth International Scientific and Theoretical Conference «Field Research XXI: Characteristics and Features» dated October 7, 2022; Chicago, USA. The title of the report is «NATO and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Combating Disinformation»;
2. The IVth International scientific conference «Technologies, tools and strategies for the implementation of scientific research» dated 07.10.2022; Sumy, Ukraine. The title of the report is «Cooperation between NATO and Ukraine during the COVID19 pandemic».
Conclusions. Since the COVID-19 pandemic is a new and unprecedented phenomenon, particularly for NATO, the number of scientific works devoted to the analysis of this problem is relatively small. The study of NATO's role in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic was mostly carried out by foreign scientists.
The outbreak of the coronavirus infection has become a certain endurance test for NATO. Unexpectedness, lack of information about the disease, lack of a vaccine, spread of misinformation, high mortality – all these became a serious test for the organization. Due to its global nature, the fight against the coronavirus pandemic required participation and cooperation of all world politics entities. The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to rising tensions, as it has made the current international situation, where the Russian Federation and China pose a threat to the security of the Euro-Atlantic region, even more unpredictable. Despite the unprecedented nature of the phenomenon, NATO was ready for a quick response. The leaders of the Alliance managed to develop effective measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus within a fairly short period of time.
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be an excellent breeding ground for the creation and distribution of fakes. The most popular «myths» about NATO from the Russian Federation are the following statements:
1. NATO developed the coronavirus as a biological weapon;
2. COVID-19 can destroy NATO;
3. COVID-19 is spreading through NATO trainings;
4. NATO requires defense spending by collecting funds from the health sector;
5. NATO is unable to provide assistance to allies in the fight against COVID-19.
China’s use of disinformation and propaganda included three goals:
1. to update information about the origin of COVID-19;
2. to spread its influence in Western countries;
3. to demonstrate its global leadership.
International actors used the issue of vaccine creation and spread as well as its distribution as a means of «soft power» in order to strengthen their own influence, and realize their own economic interests. The Russian Federation sees Europe and the United States as its main competitors and is resorting to spreading disinformation about Western developments to advance «Sputnik V». In an effort to promote «Sputnik V», the Kremlin got engaged in disinformation campaigns. Thus, Russia called into question the effectiveness and safety of Western vaccines, using partial presentation of facts, dissemination of false information and deliberate deception.
Since the recognition of COVID-19 as a pandemic, NATO has played an important role in responding to it. Thus, the military forces of the Alliance have repeatedly participated in planning, logistical support, organization of field hospitals, transportation of patients, repatriation of citizens abroad, disinfection of public places and border crossing points. NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) has been tasked with leading military support efforts, with the participation, in particular, of the Committee of Chiefs of NATO Military Medical Services (COMEDS), which is NATO’s highest military medical advisory body. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, COMEDS helped coordinate the military-medical aspects of the pandemic among the members and partner nations to identify issues requiring coordination, immediate attention, solutions, or action.
The leadership of the Alliance began to respond quickly to the pandemic and implement appropriate solutions. Jens Stoltenberg regularly communicated with the public: he made statements, commented on the situation, which testifies to the high readiness of the head of the Alliance to actively counter the threat. Since the beginning of the outbreak of coronavirus infection, the following vectors have been identified:
1. slowing the rate of the COVID-19 infection among the personnel involved in the planning and organization of Alliance events;
2. ensuring a stable level of effectiveness of NATO as a whole and of its individual components, in particular the management and control system;
3. a gradual but serious adaptation of NATO to the existence in the "COVID world" and determination of its role at all stages of decision-making with an emphasis on maintaining permanent close ties both between the structural components of the headquarters of the strategic and operational levels, and between strategic commands and training institutions of the Alliance, etc.
Although the bulk of the responsibility for combating the COVID-19 pandemic is rested with the participating countries individually, NATO played a significant role both in supporting measures to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic and in ensuring the readiness of Alliance forces to confront adversaries.
Therefore, the cooperation between NATO and the member countries is aimed at the following:
1. reaffirming the importance of support for the military personnel of individual member states. Ensuring the health and well-being of military personnel and their families is the primary role of any armed force. This responsibility lies exclusively on the member states. However, if the member states are unable to cope with this task, this will have serious consequences for the Alliance.
2. assisting member states in crisis management when necessary.
3. supporting the readiness to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic through training. NATO’s responsibility as a military alliance during the pandemic is to ensure the readiness of forces for combat operations at any time. If training needs are to be canceled or shortened, it should be done as soon as possible. In addition, online training events should replace canceled real-life training sessions.
4. analyzing the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic. NATO has played a leading role in the transfer of necessary equipment, personnel and supplies between member states. This is an extremely important work that should continue during the pandemic.
5. preparing for future waves of the coronavirus. NATO should continue to prepare for new waves of COVID-19 by working with the member states, should there be a repeat outbreak.
6. refuting Chinese and Russian disinformation campaigns. The pandemic has given the PRC and the Russian Federation the opportunity to turn commercial agreements into altruistic aid. The Alliance must immediately and decisively refute the disinformation from China and Russia with factual evidence, while highlighting the real role that NATO has played in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the assistance that Allies have provided to each other.
