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The Psychology of Hybrid Warfare

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30.01.2026

In the present era of non-conventional warfare, the lines between peacetime and wartime have been blurred, thereby further complicating the animosity and anger. In the 21st century, war trends have witnessed this paradigm shift, and hybrid warfare has been a defining feature. Such warfare has given rise to grey zones, a scenario where the dissection of truth and objectivity has been a mystery and a complicated challenge. In hybrid warfare, when lines are blurred, the purpose and objective is to psychologically damage the enemy to attain a bloodless victory through deception, emotionalism, and stratagem. In such a transformed political landscape, geopolitics has shifted from guns and grenades to manipulating minds by strategy. 

Colin Gray, in his book on Future Warfare, argues that futuristic and modern warfare will focus on specificity and interconnected threats. Such warfare, according to Gray, isn’t new; rather, such warfare has existed since ancient times, but prevalence and relevance have been more urgent in contemporary times. (Puyvelde, 2015) In the contemporary era, post-Cold War, mankind has witnessed a new kind of warfare, i.e., war without bloodshed but with damaging consequences. In such a warfare, bombs and guns aren’t the only weapons. Rather than the use of methods like stratagem to attack the enemy, it has become a more prevalent weapon. Utilization of these weapons has multiple methods beyond traditional military actions, i.e., the spread of false information, attack on computing devices, the use of hypersonic technology, utilizing deepfakes through AI, etc. Such a kind of warfare, scholars, military strategists, and academics label as hybrid warfare. 

In hybrid warfare, military motives and national interests are achieved without resorting to direct military action. However, traditional military attacks aren’t completely excluded in strategies of hybrid warfare; rather, such warfare combines both military and nonmilitary actions. (Cambridge University Press, n.d.) The reason is the fact that no matter how one evolves, the nature of conflict remains the same because, despite the fluidity and dynamic geopolitics, the motives of states remain static, i.e., a zero-sum military mindset, economic gains, and........

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