After the military intervention in Ukraine in 2014, and the swift, bloodless annexation of Crimea, the international community recognized Russia as an expert on hybrid warfare. However, the ongoing conflict in Donbas unleashed by Moscow during the second less successful hybrid campaign remains a sore point not only for Ukraine but also for Russia which has to cope with costly consequences in order not to lose in the East of Ukraine and more importantly in its undeclared war on the West. This thesis conducts a comparative analysis of two Russian hybrid warfare models: (1) in Crimea; (2) in Eastern Ukraine, and focuses on the following research questions: Why was the Russian hybrid warfare in Crimea more successful than in Donbas? What measures can the state take to improve its ability to face hybrid attacks? The findings reveal that despite the presence of a set of common factors, the different degrees of success and outcomes of both cases are attributable to the fact that successfully employing the full spectrum of hybrid warfare, is actually bound not only to a number of prerequisites but also with specific favorable features of the conflict zone and several critical elements. While hybrid tactics vary depending on country and region, it is built on exploiting the enemy's vulnerabilities, the...

Cyber security is quickly becoming one of the most important issues in the field of global politics. For this reason, it is vital to pay attention to topics in this field since they can impact international relations in a major way. Inspired by this, the thesis is focused on analysis, characterization, and categorization of cyber-attacks, which had been aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran since 2007. The goal of the thesis is dual: to provide a complex picture of such incidents, and also to decide whether those attacks can be considered as evidence of hybrid warfare of some states against Iran. Data and reports about cyber-attacks were analyzed using AVOIDIT taxonomy in order to outline their basic characteristics. The characteristics were then contrasted with the definition of hybrid warfare. The final result of the analysis is that the cyber-attacks against Iran cannot be considered as hybrid warfare, because they do not meet the basic tenets of the concept of hybrid warfare. The aspiration of the thesis is to provide a clearer insight into the topic of cyber- attacks and global politics and can serve as a guide for future discussions since the topic of hybrid warfare has become very divisive.

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Russia’s recent increase in acts of aggression against bordering nations is concerning. After Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, many wondered if the world should anticipate a Baltic intervention. This paper seeks to analyze this question through a comparative study of Russia’s recent interventions in Georgia and Ukraine, an analysis of the Estonian and Latvian Russian-speaking population, and an analysis of the NATO alliance’s strengths and weaknesses in deterring a possible Russian threat. From my analysis, I conclude that a conventional Baltic intervention is unlikely. However, I also conclude that the NATO alliance is not prepared to counter non-conventional acts of aggression and that these tactics could become more common in international conflicts. Therefore, I also conclude that a non-conventional Baltic intervention from Russia is possible and, consequently, the alliance should re-examine its framework.

CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Political Studies Department of Security Studies Master thesis 2019 Tetyana Demyanchuk CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Political Studies Department of Security Studies Tetyana Demyanchuk Understanding of hybrid warfare in Ukraine: to what extent this understanding is shaped by its internal experience? Master thesis Prague 2019 Author: Tetyana Demyanchuk Supervisor: Mgr. Tomáš Kučera, Ph.D. Academic year: 2018/2019 Bibliographic note DEMYANCHUK, Tetyana (2019) Understanding of hybrid warfare in Ukraine: to what extent this understanding is shaped by its internal experience? 50 p. Master thesis. Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Security Studies. Mgr. Tomáš Kučera, Ph.D. Abstract Hybrid warfare has achieved notoriety of being a buzzword attempting to explain the changes in the modern warfare that blur the lines between war and peace, conventional and irregular warfare. Despite its definitional shortcomings, it made its way into the official discourse of the politicians commenting on the conflict in Ukraine and Russia's involvement in it, which did not add clarity. This thesis aims to bring a Ukrainian perspective to the discussion, and it attempts to provide a deep interpretation of sufficiently...

This thesis aim is to investigate the propagation of the term 'Hybrid Warfare' in world politics, more specifically on NATO's discourses and official texts. Granted the argument that the term is unable to convey a concrete strategic doctrine or strategy due to its lack of conceptual fecundity, we argue that nonetheless, the usage of the term serves NATO as an Ontological Security exercise. The reasoning behind this argument is that Hybrid Threats (or war) have the capacity to make NATO ontologically (in)secure due to the latter's inability to respond efficiently. Thus, disrupting the alliance strategy of 'being' - that is a collective defense alliance in charge of security of all members via the Article V of the treaty - and at the same time its strategy of 'doing' which is the ability of the alliance to provide a peaceful and safe Euro-Atlantic region, inside and out. Following our attempted bridging on Hybrid War and NATO's Ontological Security, we then proceed to explicate policy changes influenced by the former. In order to do so, we chose to employ a three- layered model created by Jakub Eberle and Vladimir Handl which conceptualizes Ontological Security through narratives about the self, the other, and the overall international system. The argument is that when actors are threatened by a...

War is gendered. The scholarship of gender and war is comprehensive and multi-layered, yet there seems to be some difficulty to keep up with the new developments in technology and its involvement in warfare. It was only until a few years ago that a new method of warfare - cyber warfare, a form of hybrid warfare, emerged and got the spotlight in the discussions on new methods of warfare. However, as the literature is growing, and international organisations are producing policy and strategy documents on cyber warfare, there seems to be a research gap on the relation between gender and cyber warfare, more specifically the gendered aspects of cyber warfare. This thesis attempts to fill that research gap and intends to answer how cyber warfare may be gendered. This is be done by generally looking at the literature of “Gender and War” and “Gender and Cyber”, and Gunneriusson and Ottis (2013) categorisation of how cyberspace is used in military operations from a hybrid warfare perspective. Gunneriusson and Otitis’s categorisation focus on inter alia cyber-attacks on non-military targets, and the use of propaganda. The overview of the research on gender and cyber focus on the workforce within cyber related sectors and gender-based violence, and the overview of research on gender and war brings up numerous examples of the nexus between gender and war.  Based on the overview of the two fields of research along with Gunneriusson and Ottis categorisation this thesis comes to the conclusion that cyber warfare can be gendered. The purpose of the examples of cyber-attacks are the same when same attacks are conducted offline and these types of attack offline have the same effect online. The difference is that an attack through the cyberspace intensifies the consequences in comparison to when these same methods were used in other domains.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and describe Russia’s Hybrid Warfare against the European Union between the years 2014-2020. The research question conducted is: In what ways has Russia been using hybrid warfare against the European Union between 2014-2020? This is conducted through an operationalization on the concept Hybrid Warfare, using the categories from the MPECI-framework (Military, Political, Economic, Civil, and Information) created by the Multinational Capability Development Campaign along with the use of previous research on the subject. The material is acquired from government statements and documents, European Union statements and documents, news articles, peer-reviewed articles, academic texts, and literature on the subject made by experts. The aim of the study is to discover the ways Russia has used hybrid warfare against the European Union between 2014-2020. The theoretical development has created valuable aspect of hybrid warfare through the analysis. The result of this study shows that Russia has used all five instruments of the MPECI-framework to implement hybrid warfare against the European Union between 2014-2020.

Abstract: The objective with this thesis is to create a deeper understanding of Hybrid Warfare and through that support the Swedish Armed Forces with encompassing their perspective. The thesis is based on a hermeneutic paradigm, an inductive approach and a qualitative method, which is inspired by Grounded Theory. The data collection in this study has been conducted through semi-structured qualitative interviews of key personnel and decision makers at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarter. We have used the two theories “Modern Warfare in War and Peace” and “Social Movement Approach” in order to obtain scientifically proof for our result. The main conclusion of this study is that Hybrid Warfare is the modern war. It is an epithet that is used to explain the characteristics in the type of Modern Warfare that we currently are facing. The other conclusions in this study is that Hybrid Warfare is a “national all of government comprehensive concept”, and a proactive concept that requires a tailor fitted approach. Hybrid Warfare is a comprehensive approach based on a Total War strategy that is used in order to achieve a state actors political aims and objectives. However it is a long-term tailor fit “all of government” concept and not a military concept. This concept is based on a proactive approach, which includes a long-term shaping of the environment, distort the situation awareness and peoples perception locally in the conflict area and globally on the world arena. The purpose with the shaping of the environment is to create legitimacy for their activities in a way that reduces the risk for sanctions and international involvement. Hybrid Warfare includes the use of social movements in order to affect and in-stabilize a state. By using social movements state actors can deny their involvement in the conflict. Hybrid Warfare is also hybrid in its nature and is based on a asymmetric approach where state and non-state resources are used in a way that manipulate the boundary between peace and war in a way makes conventional military power become obsolete. We have as an outcome of this study developed a tentative theory of Hybrid Warfare. In comparison to Hybrid War, Hybrid Threats is a latent targeting method that is used within the frames of a hybrid approach

The present thesis analyses and clarifies the phenomenon of hybrid warfare. While the term has established its place in the political lexicon, current definitions and explanations are inadequate and unhelpful. This thesis addresses that shortfall by providing a concise strategic definition and a unifying theory of hybrid warfare. As a thesis grounded in the Realist tradition, the analysis focuses on the strategic implications with a view to aid in practical policy-making. Following a theoretical examination of the context and the intellectual history of the term, hybrid warfare is defined as a deliberately opaque blend of conventional and unconventional warfare. The rules of the international order and its 'guardian powers' are a key to understanding hybrid warfare and this thesis provides that understanding through the concept of the quinity. Based on the trinity, a concept emanating from Clausewitzian thought, the quinity blends traditional notions of war with the contemporary international order. The unique set of circumstances which such a combination creates is then combined with the proposed definition and operationalised through an examination of the defence policies and doctrines of the leading global powers. Hybrid warfare, whether practiced by state-like actors like Hezbollah, or states like Russia and China, can be said to represent the future of warfare, at least in the near- to mid- term. As a form of warfare which is not limited to any one domain, hybrid warfare is examined in its land, air, and maritime iterations by analysing the cases of the 2006 Lebanon War, the 2014 Ukraine crisis, and the South China Sea disputes. Its combination of opaqueness, effectiveness, impact, and strategic surprise makes it a carefully balanced and finely calibrated tool of international coercion.