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| -Land of the Free |
| Wither Hybrid War |
| 2022-03-18 |
| [RealClearDefense] Putin's Offensive in Ukraine Presages the End of "Hybrid Conflict" as a Distinct Analytical Term. What Comes Next Will Be Far More Brutal. For years, so-called "hybrid war" has bedeviled Western planners and military theorists. The concept of grey-zone or below-threshold conflict saturated American planning assumptions for around a decade, whether against Russia, Iran, or China. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, demonstrates that "hybridity" did not transform the character of war, and kinetic force retains its primacy. Whether Putin succeeds or fails in his Ukrainian gamble, Western statesmen would benefit by taking note: China’s most logical actions against Taiwan mirror Russia’s in Ukraine. Russia's hybrid campaign in Ukraine began with its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Its "Little Green men," unmarked Russian special operations forces, deployed to Crimea in February. They encountered almost no resistance due to the poor state of Ukrainian political authorities, Russia's long-standing presence on the peninsula and Ukrainian pre-2014 military incapacity. Ukrainian soldiers based in Crimea defected en masse, particularly from naval units. When faced with the choice between better pay and remaining with their families under Russian rule, or worse pay and separation from their loved ones, they naturally selected the former option. Russia's operation in Donbas was more aggressive. Initially supporting local militias, Russia gradually shored up its involvement, ultimately deploying Russian units to preserve the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #1 I so want the title to be Whither Hybrid War, instead. I feel it shiver up my spine every time I scroll to this point in the Burg. It’s rare that a headline hits me so hard — kudos to whoever wrote it. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2022-03-18 22:34 |