The Russian way of conducting war has been a topic of discussion during a long time. Several theories have tried to conceptualize the Russians means and methods during conduct of war. Some claim one can describe it as hybrid warfare, some claim it is nothing new and others claim they have brought a theory which can describe it better than the hybrid concept. One of the new theories is the Full- Spectrum Conflict which tries to explain Russian actions during the conflict in 2014. Analysis using this theory could help to understand whether the actions by Russia against Georgia 2008 can be explained by this new theory. This would support the understanding of if the Russian way of conducting war is something new or if it is something they have been doing before the conflict in 2014. The aim of the study was to test the theory Full-Spectrum Conflict to investigate if Russia’s means and methods in Georgia can be understood by using this theory This was a conflict taking place earlier than 2014 but still in the modern era. The study design is a qualitative case-study examining the Russian actions during the conflict in Georgia. The result of this study shows that the theory Full-Spectrum Conflict can be applied to and explain the Russian actions in Georgia 2008. The result also shows that the Russian way of conducting war may not be anything new. Thus, the theory can be used to explain Russia’s action during conflicts. This may be of interest to the western nations in order to gain a better understanding of Russian actions in the future.

Ever since the Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula there has been an intense scientific debate about how the Russian way of war should be defined and explained. Some argue that the way Russia is acting is something new and maybe could be defined for example as hybrid warfare. Others are not so convinced and argue that it is something old that the Russians have been doing before. After the annexation, a new concept emerged called full-spectrum conflict whose purpose was to define the Russian way of war in Ukraine.  The purpose of the thesis is to investigate Russia’s actions during the Georgian conflict 2008, to see if it is possible to trace the use of full-spectrum conflict there. This is to create a clearer picture of whether the Russian way of war is of innovative nature or if the actions in Ukraine were already used during the previous conflict. The method used in this investigation is a qualitative text analysis to either reject or support the theory. The results of the survey show that the Russian way of conducting warfare is presumably evolution of prior ways to conduct warfare and is nothing new. However, more research must be conducted to enhance this statement since a single survey cannot capture everything and needs to be strengthened for the result to be more representative.

Russians actions in Ukraine came as a chock to the west, who have been striving to conceptualize Russian warfare since. This has resulted in several conflicting definitions involving different means and methods. This might be problematic, both for a country and its military, in trying to define and counter the threat of Russian warfare. It might also be problematic for scientific enquiry, since the definitions might become too broad and neglect vital aspects of Russian warfare. This study there-fore compare and test two rivalling theories about Russian warfare, New-Generation Warfare (NGW) and Full-Spectrum Conflict (FSC), by analysing Russia’s actions in the Ukrainian conflict. By doing so it aims to shed light on which of the two theories offers the best approach to analysing the case. The study uses a qualitative text research method to examine secondary sources describing the conflict and transliterations of Putin’s speeches. Several indicators for each theoretical framework are confirmed and made the analysis possible. The results of this analysis show that Russia in Ukraine used their means and methods synchronously rather than applying a diachronic course of action as advocated by NGW. Results therefore suggest that FSC and its mix of means and methods better describes Russia’s actions in Ukraine.