Russian Warfare and Influence - by Mikael Weissmann & Niklas Nilsson (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The open access anthology takes a holistic approach to how Russia carries out hybrid warfare against its neighboring countries - states at the intersection between the East and West. The volume addresses the vulnerabilities of these countries to Russian influence and hybrid warfare tactics, as well as their responses to this security challenge. It covers local developments in states such as Ukraine, Belarus, Finland, Armenia, Serbia, analyzing specific scenarios and practices to develop the current conceptual understanding of hybrid warfare as a phenomenon"--

Book Synopsis

This open access anthology takes a holistic approach to how Russia carries out hybrid warfare against its neighbouring countries - states at the intersection between the East and West.

The book addresses the vulnerabilities of these countries to Russian influence and hybrid warfare tactics, as well as their responses to this security challenge. It includes a close examination of local developments in states such as Ukraine, Belarus, Finland, Armenia, Serbia and many others, analysing specific scenarios and practices, and draws on these observations to develop the current conceptual understanding of hybrid warfare as a phenomenon. Scholarship frequently focuses only on Russia and treats countries subjected to Russian hybrid measures as passive victims, thus providing an overly schematic picture of Russian behaviour. This book instead treats these states as actors in their own right, assessing their potential to address and counter the specific security problems arising from their geographic and political position.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Review Quotes

"This is an important and timely contribution to scholars in the field, especially for those seeking to understand the complexities of modern conflict and the multifaceted threats posed by Russian tactics." --Choice

"Valuable, nuanced, and well-sourced discussion of developments in the "grey" area and one that takes into account the implications of the outcome of the war in Ukraine, whatever that may eventually be." --The Russian Review

"Niklas Nilsson and Mikael Weissmann have edited an impressive collection of experts to analyse and question our assumptions how Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally changed our perceptions of Russia's strategic motivations, how we should understand Russian warfare as encompassing a wide spectrum of kinetic and non-kinetic actions, as well as the changed security environment in Russia's Eurasian neighbourhood relations with NATO and the West. An informative introduction and conclusion by the two editors are coupled with expertise on Serbia, the Baltic states, Ukraine, and two further countries and Russian proxy cases in Eurasia." --Taras Kuzio, National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy

"Call it hybrid, grey zone or political war, Putin's Russia has embarked on a campaign of subversion, disinformation and destabilisation against its foes. This excellent collection usefully moves the spotlight from the NATO countries to the intermediary nations which often especially vulnerable, yet also dangerously under-considered." --Dr Mark Galeotti, author of The Weaponisation of Everything

About the Author

Niklas Nilsson is Associate Professor in War Studies at the Swedish Defence University, Sweden. He is also a co-convenor of the Hybrid Warfare Research Group (HWRG), a Senior Research Fellow with the Institute for Security & Development Policy, and Managing and Associate Editor of CACI Analyst.

Mikael Weissmann is Associate Professor in War Studies and Head of Research & Deputy Head of the Land Operations Section at the Swedish Defence University, Sweden. He is the Director of Studies of the PhD program in War Studies and co-convenor of the Hybrid Warfare Research Group (HWRG).