National defense perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 has been classified as a “Pandemic” by WHO, announced on March 11, 2020. Indonesia has also stipulated the COVID-19 pandemic as a national disaster through Presidential Decree Number 12 of 2020. The spread of COVID-19 has disrupted public health as well as social-economic dimension of the nation. This study aims to understand COVID-19 threat from the perspective of national defense. This research employes comparative method by performing comparison and connectivity analysis of academic, government, and defense perspectives. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic is not a genetically modified biological weapon. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has become a “common enemy” and has established a “common sense of crisis”, which in turns resulted in a “common action” by various countries, including Indonesia. People are expected to have high self-immunity and adaptability to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. In national defense perspective, the COVID-19 pandemic is not a military threat. Therefore, the leading sectors are the Ministry of Health and the National Disaster Management Agency as the related ministries/agencies. The involvement of the TNI and Kemhan in mitigating COVID-19 is based on humanitarian purposes to support the leading sectors in assisting people to overcome their difficulties.


Introduction
The world is currently facing an outbreak of disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) and its infection, better known as COVID-19. This virus was initially discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and has spread rapidly throughout the world. COVID-19 has been classified as a "Pandemic" by World Health Organization (WHO) through an official announcement on March 11, 2020 by its Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyes. Pandemic is not a word that can be used carelessly, since the term's misuse can cause alarming fear. Thus, WHO's decision to classify COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic was based on careful considerations about the extent of its spread and severity, as well as the degree of inaction in handling the outbreak.
Indonesia has also stipulated the status of COVID-19 as a disaster through Presidential Decree Number 12 of 2020 on the Determination of Non-Natural Disaster of the 2019 Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) Spread as a National Disaster. Two important points emphasized from the Decree are: 1) COVID-19 is classified as a non-natural disaster, and 2) the government recognizes COVID-19 as a national disaster. Stipulation of the COVID-19 pandemic status as a non-natural disaster was based on academic review. It has also been stipulated in accordance with the national and international terminologies. Non-natural disasters are "disasters caused wholly or in large part by human activities and choices" (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction). Meanwhile, the Law of the As a non-natural disaster, the distribution pattern and danger caused by Covid-19 is very dependent on human activities. Thus, humans/society is a determining factor in the virus' transmission chain. Article 7 paragraph 3 of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 3 of 2002(Law No. 3/2002 states that in dealing with non-military threats, government agencies other than defense-related ministries/agencies are the leading sectors with respect to the form and nature of the threats, and supported by other elements of the nation's power, including the Ministry of Defense/Kementerian Pertahanan (Kemhan) and Indonesian Armed Forces/Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI).
COVID-19 pandemic has brought various public health as well as socio-economic implications towards all affected regions/countries, including Indonesia. The Indonesian National COVID-19 Task Force data on September 21, 2020 showed that COVID-19 has infected 248,852 people with total deaths of 9,677 people, and 180,797 recovered cases. Meanwhile, the addition of daily cases in the last few weeks, has reached 3,000-4,000 cases. This fact indicates that the threat of Covid-19 is very worrying with an increasing trend. On the other hand, as governmental institutions in the defense sector, TNI and Kemhan have the duty and responsibility to safeguard the entire nation and are obliged to overcome various forms of threats that endanger the nation's survival. Against this background, the purpose of this research is to understand Covid-19 as a form of state threat by reviewing whether COVID-19 is categorized as a military, non-military, or hybrid threat. Determining the type of threat serves as the basis to determine the scope of Kemhan and TNI's involvement as national defense institutions on COVID-19 pandemic mitigation in Indonesia.

Academic perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic
In academic perspective, if an outbreak/pandemic is categorized as a biological weapon, the spectrum of biological threats span from natural biological risks to human-induced risks. The collaboration between the ministry of health and the WHO is needed for action to reduce biological threats and biological risks, which will contribute to forge biodefense, biosecurity, and biosafety. Biological threats are increasingly severe and complex threats to national security. The nuclear nonproliferation and deterrence model does not apply to biological weapons. Thus, biological weapons need their own framework. While biodefence involves developing capabilities and knowledge-based to assess, detect, monitor, respond to, and link biological threats; biosecurity focuses on preventing the theft, transfer, or malicious use of biological science knowledge, skills, materials, and technology from causing harm. Thus, biodefence and biosecurity are defense-oriented.
Before discussing the "Perspective of National Defense against the COVID-19 pandemic", it is necessary to understand the story of "La Peste" novel by Albert Camus. "La Peste" is a French phrase which is translated into "The Plague" in English or "Sampar" in Indonesian, which is an infectious disease that occurs in animals or humans. "La Peste" tells a story about a virus that spreads uncontrollably from animals to humans and destroys half of the population in Oran, a fictional modern city on Algeria's coast. Long story short, the city of Oran was flooded with the mysterious deaths of thousands of mice. It didn't take long before the plague hit Oran, a contagious disease from resident to resident, spreading panic and horror on every street. Although "La Peste" is only a novel, but it is able to provide an overview of an epidemic's implication on human life. However, in this study, the academic perspective in question is the relevant theories or concepts, namely: biological weapons, the theory of survival of the fittest, and the concept of resilience. Understanding these ideas and concepts will enable us in understanding epidemic/disease threat such as COVID-19, and also can be employed as an entry point in viewing the COVID-19 pandemic from national defense perspective, as well as understanding the role and involvement of the Ministry of Defense/Kementerian Pertahanan (Kemhan) and the Armed Forces/Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) as defense sector institutions. This dangerous weapon can cause massive destruction and devastation. Biological weapons are often referred to as "the poor man's nuclear weapons" or "the poor man's atomic bomb" [1]. The costs and technology needed to make biological weapons are much lower and less sophisticated than nuclear weapons and chemical weapons. Nevertheless, their mass-destroying effects are not less potent than nuclear or chemical weapons.
Biological weapons contain biological or microbial materials such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, or toxins from living things that can cause disease or death in humans or livestocks. Several microbes that can be used as biological weapons include bacillus anthracis, yersinia pestis, clostridium botulinum, mycobacterium tuberculosis, variola virus, ebola virus, poliovirus, and others. These microbes can enter and leave the human body through various organs of the body, such as respiratory tract, digestive tract, urinary tract, skin, or other organs. These microbes' infection will cause particular clinical symptoms [2].
Is COVID-19 a biological weapon? So far, there has been no confirmation that COVID-19 is a type of biological weapon. This argument is at least supported by the understanding of "who attacks and who is attacked". Since almost all countries are affected, the argument that COVID-19 is genetically engineered as a weapon is unlikely to be valid. However, Covid-19 has become a common enemy for the survival of humanity today. The common enemy will create a "common sense of crisis" (mutual concern), which in the end will result in a "common action" (acting together against the common enemy).

Survival of the fittest
No matter how vicious an epidemic, how intense a disaster, or how vicious war is, it still leaves humans as species that perpetuate life. Humans have a defensive nature as the ability to adapt to avoid extinction, which was termed survival of the fittest (whoever stronger will win) by Charles Darwin, the father of evolution. Nevertheless, we really shouldn't be careless with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other diseases. Tuberculosis, dengue fever, hepatitis, cancer, AIDS, are a series of diseases that in theory can become human killing machines. These diseases still exist when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Therefore, an effort to protect mankinds from all disease attacks is required.
The science of defending oneself from various dangers or threats in the open or outdoors by using makeshift equipment to survive is called survival [3]. Meanwhile, the theory of survival of the fittest refers to the natural selection of living things in evolution. This theory's essence is the existence of "natural selection" (i.e. the strong one will be more likely to survive). Mankind has the sense to think and act on how to position themselves in responding to change. Therefore, the existence of COVID-19 pandemic requires people to adopt lifestyle changes in order to avoid/prevent the spread or transmission of this deadly virus. On that basis, the importance of understanding resilience is not only based on the ability to survive, but also increases the ability to deal with or respond to threats.

Resilience concepts
There is a connection between the words "ketahanan" and "resiliensi", since both of them are translated as "resilience" in English. They have almost the same meaning but different in their application. "Ketahanan" comes from the root word "tahan" (robust), which means to endure suffering, steadfast, be strong, be able to control oneself, and never give up. At the same time, "resiliensi" (resilience) is not only resilient and robust in the face of shocks, but emphasizes the ability to recover or bounce back from the shocks. The most suitable word in the Indonesian Dictionary [4] to replace the word "resiliensi" (bouncy) is "anjal" (ke-anjal-an). However, the word is not yet commonly used, so the word "resilience" is still used.
The concept of resilience was first introduced by physical scientists to show the characteristics of a spring, describing the material's stability and its toughness to external shocks [5]. In the 1960s, the concept of resilience was used in the environmental field [6]. The concept of resilience was also developed in the social sector, which can be related to the context of COVID-19 pandemic. The definition of social resilience is the capacity to access assets in order not only to cope with and adapt to adverse conditions (reactive), but also to seek and make choices (proactive) and increase the ability to deal with or respond to threats [7].
With regards to the mitigation of COVID-19 pandemic, the community is expected to have a high level of resilience. The community is not only expected to be steadfast and strong in facing COVID-19; but also to be able to recover (bounce) like a "pressed spring", and make the optimal choices (proactive) to deal with the threats (in this case, COVID-19). For the community to have resilience, it is necessary to improve their ability to respond and adapt to Covid-19. Some of the efforts to increase social resilience (community) include easy access to basic needs, especially food. In addition, inventing new work alternatives to tackle the issue of high unemployment rate caused by COVID-19 pandemic is also a necessity to increase the public's social resilience. Since COVID-19 pandemic can last for a long period, adjustments to a new way of life (new normal) is also required. In essence, the concept of resilience emphasizes the capacity to restore and change the system in the long term from a dynamic perspective [8].

Government perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic
The Indonesian government has stipulated the status of COVID-19 as a disaster through Presidential Decree Number 12 of 2020 on the Determination of Non-Natural Disaster of the 2019 Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) Spread as a National Disaster. The government has also mitigated COVID-19 through 3 (three) stages, namely: 1) prevention of avoidable epidemic ; 2) early threats detection; and 3) rapid and effective response. In the context of international traffic and trade, these stages aim to prevent, protect and control the spread of disease across countries by performing appropriate actions against the health risks faced without causing significant disruption to international traffic and trade.
The spokesperson of Indonesian National COVID-19 Task Force stated that prevention, detection, and response are the key approaches to prevention and control of COVID-19. Prevention is carried out on the risk factors and specific precautions; Detection is carried out actively or passively; and Response includes healing and support. The three activities are then used to classify people who are healthy, at-risk, sick, and disabled/dead. COVID-19 pandemic is a complex system involving biology, human behavior, companies and governments, and is influenced by healthcare, the economy, governance, and geopolitics factors. The spread of COVID-19 can be measured in terms of the risk and safety level. Risk level is evaluated in four variables, which consist of: infection spread risks, government management, healthcare efficiency, and regional specific risks. Meanwhile, COVID-19 safety level is evaluated in four variables, which consist of: quarantine efficiency, government management efficiency, monitoring and detection, and emergency treatment readiness. The COVID-19 risk level, according to a variety of medical and non-medical factors, including the risk of infection, hospitalization, death, and lasting health conditions, as well as the country's risk of adverse economic, quality-of-life, and geopolitical issues resulting from the pandemic. It is used to provide information where citizens will have the greatest likelihood of positive outcomes during the global COVID-19 pandemic across the full-scope of factors impacting general safety, wellness, and quality of life.
The risk and safety level assessment also takes into account protection from COVID-19 infection, mortality and negative patient outcomes, metrics on quarantining and infection monitoring, detection, and management, and safety and stability in the broadest sense, including protection from extreme negative outcomes as a result of the pandemic beyond health. Countries that are unable to neutralize this pandemic could trigger a chain of events leading to negative outcomes for entire nations, as well as their geographic and economic neighbors.
COVID-19 prevention and control efforts in Indonesia are carried out at individual and community level. At the individual level, activities include: 1) Personal and home hygiene efforts; and 2) Increasing self-immunity and controlling comorbidities. Furthermore, at the community level, it According to The Regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Number 9 of 2020 Guidelines to Large-Scale Social Restrictions in Accelerating COVID-19 Mitigation, social restrictions or PSBB is defined as restrictions of certain activities of residents in a suspected area of COVID-19 infection to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19. To prevent the possibility of COVID-19 transmission, PSBB was determined on the basis of: 1) a significant increase in the number of cases within a certain period; 2) rapid spread of cases in other areas within a certain period ; and 3) evidence of local transmission. Apart from that, it also considers regional readiness on the availability of people's basic living needs, the availability of health facilities and infrastructure, the availability of budgets, and the operationalization of social safety nets for affected people and security aspects. PSBB is implemented through: 1) Restricting several types of activities ; 2) Blocking and preventing the spread of COVID-19 on a larger scale; and 3) Home quarantine, self-isolation, special facility quarantine, hospital quarantine, and regional quarantine.

Defense perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic
Since the end of the World War, almost all countries have rearranged the structure of their country's defense and security system, with orientation towards advances in high technology and total defense. Indonesia has long called it the total defense system/Sistem Pertahanan dan Keamanan Rakyat Semesta (Sishankamrata). In subsequent development, the separation of Indonesian Police/Kepolisian Republik Indonesia (Polri) from the TNI has reshaped Sishankamrata to become Sistem Pertahanan Semesta (Sishanta). A total or comprehensive defense and security system aims to deal with threats that are complex in nature. In this case, what are the threats that could endanger the sustainability of a country/nation's existence?
Article 1 paragraph 1 of Law No. 3/2002 states that national defense is all efforts to defend the sovereignty of the state, the territorial integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, and the safety of the entire nation from all forms of threats. Furthermore, article 1 paragraph 2 of the Law states that the Indonesian State Defense System is a comprehensive defense system that involves all citizens, territories, and other national resources. It is early-prepared by the government and is carried out in a total, integrated, directed, and continuous manner to uphold state sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the entire nation's safety from all threats. The total defense system integrates military defense and non-military defense through efforts to build a strong and respected state defense force and capability with high deterrence.
Types  defense sector as the leading sectors; which is supported by other elements of national powers as the supporting components, consisting of: other ministries/agencies, regional governments/Pemerintah Daerah (Pemda), TNI, and other national powers.

Methods
This research was conducted to understand the perspective of national defense on the COVID-19 pandemic. Three concepts or perspectives (i.e. academic, government, and defense) are used as the basis for the theory to answer this research question. In this sense, a theory is a set of concepts, assumptions, and generalizations that is able to express and explain behavior in various organizations [10]. Meanwhile, concept is some features related to an object where the concept is created through classification and grouping of particular objects that have the same characteristics [11]. The theory has four essential criteria: conceptual definition, domain boundaries, relationship building, and prediction [12]. Theory can also be interpreted as a set of interrelated concepts and definitions that reflect a systematic view of phenomena and explain the relationship between variables [13]. Theory can limit the number of facts that need to be studied and can be used to predict which further facts should be sought.

Connectivity and comparison of three perspectives
To understand the perspective of national defense against the Covid-19 pandemic, this study employs two other perspectives, namely academic and government perspectives. Connectivity and comparisons of methods were carried out based on these perspectives to understand the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of national defense and the involvement of defense institutions (TNI and Kemhan) in mitigating disease outbreaks (Figure 1).

Threat schemes in the national defense system
The connectivity and comparisons results from the three perspectives are made of the types of threats triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Determining the type of threat is essential for Kemhan and TNI to determine the appropriate type of their involvement (Figure 2). If it is a military threat, military force will be employed. Conversely, if it is not a military threat, then the related ministry or institution will become the leading sector.  Figure 2. Threat scheme to the national defense system

Results and discussion
According to United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), disaster is defined as "A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources " [14]. Disasters can be classified as: 1) Natural disasters, consisting of: earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, droughts, typhoon, and landslides; 2) Non-natural disasters, consisting of: technological failure, modernization failure, and epidemics or disease outbreaks; and 3) Social Disasters, consisting of: social conflicts between groups or communities and terrorism.
From academic, government, and defense perspective, the COVID-19 pandemic has been declared as a non-natural disaster. The similarity of opinion can be traced from the results of connectivity and comparison of the three perspectives to determine the role and involvement of the Kemhan and TNI as defense institutions in the mitigation of COVID-19. Indonesia also has a law regulating the defense component's involvement in mitigating disease outbreaks like COVID-19. There are at least two related laws, namely the

Conectivity and comparison: three perspective
Based on connectivity and a comparison results between the three perspectives (i.e. academic, government, and defense), COVID-19 pandemic can be summarized in a complete explanation. The first is that COVID-19 is not a biological weapon, thereby personal immunity and adaptability are the essential factors to survive from the threat. The government has also stipulated the status of COVID-19 pandemic as a national disaster in non-natural disaster category. COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted public health as well as social-economic dimension of the nation, causing the national economic to slowdown and decline. In defense perspective, COVID-19 pandemic is not considered as a military threat, therefore the leading sectors are the related ministries/agencies. In this case, the Ministry of Health and the BNPB.
Although it is not a military threat, COVID-19 pandemic is a real threat which requires a shared duty and responsibility of all stakeholders to mitigate it. COVID-19 is not a type of biological weapon since it cannot be validated by the perspective of "who attacked and who was attacked". All countries are affected, so it is unlikely that COVID-19 is a genetically-engineered weapon of mass destruction. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has become a "common enemy" and create a "common sense of crisis," thus resulting a "common action" by all people and governments throughout the world. In individual level, people are expected to have high self-immunity and adaptability. In the society level, COVID-19 must also be mitigation based on community action, from family, community, to nationwide-scale.

The role of Kemhan and TNI in Mitigating COVID-19 Pandemic
The involvement of the TNI (as the main component of state defense) in mitigating COVID-19 is based on the purpose of maintaining and protecting the safety of the entire nation from all forms of threats through contributing in the provision of humanitarian assistance. The involvement of TNI on the front lines in mitigating COVID-19 can be used as an indicator in measuring Indonesia's defense strength against the threat of disease outbreaks. In mitigating COVID-19, TNI has the ability to perform evacuation and isolation. In addition, TNI is able to carry out treatment to Covid-19 patients through deployment of field health units consisting of: Kostrad Health Battalion, Marine Health Battalion, and Air Force Headquarters Health Battalion. The purpose of national defense is to safeguard and protect the sovereignty of the state, the territorial integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, and the entire nation's safety from all forms of threats (Law No. 3/2002). Meanwhile, article 7 paragraph 2 (b) number 12 of Law No. 34/2004 stated that in performing military operation other than war (MOOTW), TNI is "assisting to cope with the consequences of natural disasters, displacement, and providing humanitarian assistance". Thus, the involvement of the TNI is based on: 1) specific TNI's capabilities that can be used in emergency situations and disaster response activities, 2) TNI's clear organizational command line, capable facilities and equipment, and readily deployed human resources, and 3) TNI's primary role in disaster response which is influenced by its organizational structure, practices, a clear chain of command and coordination, as well as its ability for rapid deployment.
The roles of Kemhan and TNI in COVID-19 response can be classified into 4 groups, namely: 1) Territorial roles (i.e. regional mobilization capability); 2) Logistics distribution (i.e. through the possession of various transportation means); 3) Logistics provision (i.e. regional logistics collection); and 4) Medical and healthcare (i.e. through Kemhan and TNI's hospitals and other medical facilities throughout Indonesia). These roles are able to support the mitigation of COVID-19 pandemic. Several efforts need to be made to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission. The TNI Commander's has mandated to maintain physical distance for preventing the transmission of COVID-19. The TNI Commander has also emphasized several things, namely: 1) Maintain physical distance, at least 1.5 meters; 2) Avoid taking public transportation; 3) Work at home; 4) Avoid crowding; 5) Avoid public spaces; 6) Avoid public facilities; and 7) Optimize online services. These mandates is based on the TNI's concern for the suffering that people currently experience. TNI has also participated in various activities to help overcome the difficulties of the people around it. The 8th principle of TNI's Obligation (Wajib TNI) to "become an example and spearheads efforts to overcome the difficulties of the people around it" is very relevant to the current context. This task can also serve as TNI's corporate social responsibility (CSR) .

Conclusion
COVID-19 pandemic can be viewed from various perspectives. Understanding of the national defense perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic can be obtained through connectivity and comparison analysis of academic and government perspectives. At least, the three perspectives (i.e. academics, government, and defense) have the same view that the COVID-19 pandemic is a non-natural disaster. It is also not a genetically-engineered biological weapon of mass destruction. The connectivity and comparisons results was also able to trace the role and involvement of the Kemhan and TNI as defense institutions in mitigating COVID-19.
Indonesia has a law that regulates the involvement of defense components in mitigating disease outbreaks such as Covid-19. There are at least two related laws, namely Law No. 3/2002 and law No. 34/2004. In terms of threats classification, COVID-19 is categorized as a non-military threat and is a real threat. Therefore, the leading sector in mitigating the threat is ministries or institutions other than the defense institutions (Ministry of Health and BNPB).
The involvement of the TNI in providing humanitarian assistance is a form MOOTW. It is based on the personnel readiness for rapid deployment and the availability of military equipment that can be employed to assist with health and social assistance duties. In performing the MOOTW, the TNI has territorial, logistic provision, medical and healthcare, as well as logistic distribution roles. In addition, the contribution of TNI in setting an example and pioneering efforts to overcome the difficulties of the Indonesian people is an implementation of the 8 th principle of TNI's Obligation.