Russia and "hybrid warfare"

In the aftermath of the Crimea annexation in March 2014, the idea of ‘hybrid warfare’ quickly gained prominence as a concept that could help to explain the success of Russian military operations in this conflict. Although the concept continues to enjoy widespread popularity in both scholarly and pol...

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Main Author: Renz, Bettina
Format: Article
Published: Taylor and Francis 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34877/
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author Renz, Bettina
author_facet Renz, Bettina
author_sort Renz, Bettina
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
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description In the aftermath of the Crimea annexation in March 2014, the idea of ‘hybrid warfare’ quickly gained prominence as a concept that could help to explain the success of Russian military operations in this conflict. Although the concept continues to enjoy widespread popularity in both scholarly and policy circles, its utility as an analytical tool is also heavily contested. This article adds to the literature critical of the ‘hybrid warfare’ concept. It argues that in addition to the fact that what is now described as a ‘hybrid’ approach to war is in fact nothing new, the problems pertaining to its utility for the study of contemporary Russia go deeper than this. ‘Hybrid warfare’ inadequately reflects the direction of Russian military modernisation and as such has led to a skewed understanding of Russian military capabilities. Moreover, the tendency to use ‘hybrid warfare’ not only to conceptualise developments in the Russian military, but in the country’s foreign policy in general, can lead to serious unintended consequences.
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spelling nottingham-348772020-05-04T17:55:18Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34877/ Russia and "hybrid warfare" Renz, Bettina In the aftermath of the Crimea annexation in March 2014, the idea of ‘hybrid warfare’ quickly gained prominence as a concept that could help to explain the success of Russian military operations in this conflict. Although the concept continues to enjoy widespread popularity in both scholarly and policy circles, its utility as an analytical tool is also heavily contested. This article adds to the literature critical of the ‘hybrid warfare’ concept. It argues that in addition to the fact that what is now described as a ‘hybrid’ approach to war is in fact nothing new, the problems pertaining to its utility for the study of contemporary Russia go deeper than this. ‘Hybrid warfare’ inadequately reflects the direction of Russian military modernisation and as such has led to a skewed understanding of Russian military capabilities. Moreover, the tendency to use ‘hybrid warfare’ not only to conceptualise developments in the Russian military, but in the country’s foreign policy in general, can lead to serious unintended consequences. Taylor and Francis 2016-06-25 Article PeerReviewed Renz, Bettina (2016) Russia and "hybrid warfare". Contemporary Politics . ISSN 1356-9775 Hybrid warfare Russia strategy Putin foreign policy NATO http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13569775.2016.1201316 doi:10.1080/13569775.2016.1201316 doi:10.1080/13569775.2016.1201316
spellingShingle Hybrid warfare
Russia
strategy
Putin
foreign policy
NATO
Renz, Bettina
Russia and "hybrid warfare"
title Russia and "hybrid warfare"
title_full Russia and "hybrid warfare"
title_fullStr Russia and "hybrid warfare"
title_full_unstemmed Russia and "hybrid warfare"
title_short Russia and "hybrid warfare"
title_sort russia and "hybrid warfare"
topic Hybrid warfare
Russia
strategy
Putin
foreign policy
NATO
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34877/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34877/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34877/