Countering Gray-Zone Hybrid Threats: An Analysis of Russias "New Generation Warfare" and Implications for the US Army

Abstract

The gray zone is an operating environment in which aggressors use ambiguity and leverage nonattribution to achieve strategic objectives while limiting counter-actions by other nation states. Inside the gray zone, aggressors use hybrid tactics to achieve their strategic objectives. While hybrid threats have historically been associated with irregular and conventional warfare, their use in the gray zone leads to a dichotomy between two types of hybrid threats that can mainly be attributed to the need for ambiguity and non-attribution in the gray zone. The two types of hybrid threats are open-warfare hybrid threats and gray-zone hybrid threats. A case in point is Russia's military actions in eastern Ukraine, part of what the Kremlin calls its New Generation Warfare. In this MWI report, Captain John Chambers draws on this case study to recommend ways the US Army can improve its capacity to counter ongoing as well as future gray-zone hybrid threats.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 18, 2016
Accession Number
AD1020295

Entities

People

  • John Chambers

Organizations

  • United States Military Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Combat Areas
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Conventional Warfare
  • Department Of State
  • Employment
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Fungi
  • Gray Zone
  • Hybrid Warfare
  • International Relations
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Minority Groups
  • National Security
  • Terrorism
  • Warfare

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.