HYBRID WARS: THE 21st-CENTURY’S NEW THREATS TO GLOBAL PEACE AND SECURITY

Abstract

This article discusses a new form of war, ‘hybrid war’, with inclusion of aspects of ‘cyber-terrorism’ and ‘cyber-war’ against the backdrop of Russia’s ‘Ukrainian Spring’ and the continuing threat posed by radical Islamist groups in Africa and the Middle East. It also discusses the findings of an on-going hybrid threat project by the Swedish Defence College. This interdisciplinary article predicts that military doctrines, traditional approaches to war and peace and their perceptions will have to change in the future.

Keywords

• Hybrid war
• Cyber-terrorism
• Cyber-war
• Radical Islamist groups
• Middle East
• International terrorism
• Multi-modal threats
• Asymmetric lines of conflict
• Counterinsurgency
• Hybrid threats
• New threat definitions
• New definition of war
• Russia’s Ukrainian Spring
• Ukrainian spring