Page 12 - 2020 Defence White Paper
P. 12

Section


                               1       Global Security Environment



                            While the global spread of COVID-19 has emerged as a new threat to international
                            security as it causes political, economic, and social instability in many countries across
                            the world, security threats continue to arise locally due to traditional causes of conflict
                            such as territorial and religious disputes. Against this backdrop, extreme nationalism is
                            intensifying in the international community but at the same time efforts to cooperate on
                            jointly responding to various security threats are being strengthened.









                            1. COVID-19 and Increased Variability in the Security Environment


                            The COVID-19 outbreak, which began at the end of 2019 and has since spread
                            rapidly across the world, has caused an unprecedented complex security crisis
                            situation in the international community. In just nine months after the World Health
                            Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak as a pandemic  in March 2020, more
                                                                           1)
                            than 61 million cases have been confirmed and over 1.4 million people have died
                            worldwide, causing the worst level of casualties since World War II. COVID-19 has
                            paralyzed social systems including health care systems, and has brought about an
                            international economic crisis that includes a breakdown in the global supply chain,

                            contraction in economic activities, and mass unemployment. The pandemic has also
                            sparked social conflicts around the world, including racial hate crimes and protests
                            by the economically vulnerable against government quarantine measures. As the
                            crisis that started in the health care sector escalates into political, economic, and
                            social crises, it poses a grave security threat to the international community.
                             The intensifying strategic competition between the US and China, amid global
                            spread of COVID-19, adds instability and uncertainty to the international security
                            environment. The US is seeking new partnerships and a variety of cooperation
                            opportunities by further strengthening cooperation with its existing allies and
                            friendly nations while holding China’s expansion of influence in check through its
                            Indo-Pacific Strategy. China, on the other hand, is striving to protect its core interests
                            and expand its influence by pushing forward with its Belt and Road Initiative.
        1)
        State of great epidemic   Also, in the initial response stages for COVID-19, members of the international
        outbreaks around the
        world.              community showed a tendency to prioritize their own country, choosing to close




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