John P. Sullivan
Hybrid threats and hybrid warfare are firmly embedded in the contemporary threat environment. They involve the complex blend of both state and non-state actors in an ongoing continuum of competition that blurs the boundaries between peace and war. They also embrace several approaches to conflict: conventional warfare, irregular warfare, and terrorism. As a consequence, they erode the distinctions between crime and war. Hybrid threats also leverage network forms of organization to extend influence and shape the operational environment.
Hybrid involves both the actors and the means they employ. That is, a range of actors (including criminal gangs, organized crime, and more traditional state actors) using a range of means—some traditional and some novel—ranging in sophistication from simple, low-tech violence through complex high-tech means using cyber and modern lethal systems (including anti-satellite weapons, and drones), as well as information warfare and traditional military operations. Hybrid operations often synchronize a variety of means to disrupt, degrade, or destabilize adversaries. This often involves leveraging cognitive warfare to gain advantage. As a result, influence operations are integrated with all other means.
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