Hybrid Warfare - by Mikael Weissmann & Niklas Nilsson & Björn Palmertz (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.

Hybrid Warfare refers to a military strategy that blends conventional warfare, so-called 'irregular warfare' and cyber-attacks with other influencing methods, such as fake news, diplomacy and foreign political intervention. As Hybrid Warfare becomes increasingly commonplace, there is an imminent need for research bringing attention to how these challenges can be addressed in order to develop a comprehensive approach towards Hybrid Threats and Hybrid Warfare. This volume supports the development of such an approach by bringing together practitioners and scholarly perspectives on the topic and by covering the threats themselves, as well as the tools and means to counter them, together with a number of real-world case studies.

The book covers numerous aspects of current Hybrid Warfare discourses including a discussion of the perspectives of key western actors such as NATO, the US and the EU; an analysis of Russia and China's Hybrid Warfare capabilities; and the growing threat of cyberwarfare. A range of global case studies - featuring specific examples from the Baltics, Taiwan, Ukraine, Iran and Catalonia - are drawn upon to demonstrate the employment of Hybrid Warfare tactics and how they have been countered in practice. Finally, the editors propose a new method through which to understand the dynamics of Hybrid Threats, Warfare and their countermeasures, termed the 'Hybridity Blizzard Model'. With a focus on practitioner insight and practicable International Relations theory, this volume is an essential guide to identifying, analysing and countering Hybrid Threats and Warfare.

Review Quotes

The new form of global competition being waged in the Grey Zone between peace and war is a struggle for our minds. This curated collection of articles by international experts in hybrid warfare is a timely warning of what is at stake for us in the digital age. Read it to find out what we must do to defend ourselves and our democracy.
Professor Sir David Omand, former UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator and Director of GCHQ

This collection of essays on international hybrid threats and proper responses is a veritable cornucopia of empirical research findings and analytic insights, in the manner of so much good research and writing coming out of Sweden on matters of war and peace. With a wide array of authors from the world's democracies, the contributions in this volume will be attractive to professionals and the public alike who are interested in the gray zone falling between outright war and peace in this trouble world---the space that Russia likes to operate within, for example, as Moscow attempts to manipulate Western opinion and undermine the open societies. One of the volume's great strengths is its melding of thinking on this subject by both scholars and practitioners. Fascinating, too, are a series of case studies included among the chapters, with probes into hybrid threats and warfare as seen from the perspectives of China, Iran, Russia, the United States, and several other illustrations. The relevance, thoughtfulness, and practicality of this book cannot be overstated.
Loch K. Johnson, Regents Professor Emeritus, University of Georgia, USA

War is not what it used to be in the industrial age. As we are entering the digital age, we often find ourselves in a grey zone of contest, conflict and confrontation where a wide array of means are used to influence, disrupt and sometimes - although more seldom - also to destruct. This collection helps us to understand and to navigate in today's far more complex reality with an ongoing contest between the different rising and declining powers of our time.
Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister (1991-1994) and Foreign Minister (2006-2014) of Sweden. Currently Co-Chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations

About the Author

Mikael Weissmann is Associate Professor, Head of Research at the Land Operations Section and Co-Convener of the Hybrid Warfare Research Group in the Department of Military Studies at the Swedish Defence University, Sweden.

Niklas Nilsson is Assistant Professor and Co-Convener of the Hybrid Warfare Research Group in the Department of Military Studies at the Swedish Defence University, Sweden.

1. Björn Palmertz is Senior Analyst, CATS, Swedish Defence University, Sweden.