Thread by @nimkef

14 Aug 2015

The overall purpose of this paper is to scrutinize the contemporary hybrid warfare employed by Russia in Ukraine and determine which elements have been most critical for Russia’s success.

smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/non-l…

After providing a brief overview of hybrid warfare, this paper asserts that information operations and special operations ultimately pave the way for success in hybrid warfare.

Since both of these components create a more favorable population, achieve the strategic initiative, and act as a force multiplier for insurgent elements, they result in early successes that provide the initiating actor escalation control.

For these two elements, this paper provides a brief background on their general concepts, an overview of how they are viewed among Russian military thinkers, a discussion of how they were employed during the Ukrainian crisis, and an analysis of their use.

After reaffirming its thesis, this paper concludes with a brief discussion of the consequences of hybrid warfare and how it enables propagators to hinder their adversaries’ decision-making process.