The hybrid war is a term that has gained special popularity in the last decade, especially in the context of conflicts with Russia. Although this concept sounds modern, the very idea of combining various forms of conducting hostilities has its roots in what happened much earlier. In this article I will introduce you to the definition of hybrid war and explain what exactly it is.
Hybrid war
Hybrid war is a way of conducting a conflict, which is based on activities that are also aggressive, but not military. The key feature is the blur of the border between the state of war and peace.
Sounds complicated? I am already explaining! This type of war is eliminated by properly conventional armed forces. These may be used, but they are not necessary: the heart of the hybrid war are sabotage, cyberrataki and information war (disinformation, propaganda, system hacking). In addition, there is political and economic impact – exerting economic pressure on the opponent or influencing political processes (e.g. on the results of democratic choices). In terms of strictly military, the army is not involved, but the formations of unmarked soldiers, “helping” the oppressed residents of a given region.
The hybrid war aims to weaken the opponent without declaring a formal war. He often leads to destabilization of states, division of society and weakening of democratic institutions.
So much theory, now let’s take the whole phenomenon under the magnifying glass.
It’s nothing new!
Although the term “hybrid war” was more widely popularized in the 21st century, the very concept of combining various forms of fighting is not new. Already in the antiquity of the state they used various methods of combat. In practice, this meant sowing defeatism in hostile areas, conspiracies or bribing politicians.
We can recognize that the Polish -Lithuanian Commonwealth, the alliance of Poland and Lithuania, collapsed as a result of such actions: its neighbors bribed MPs to break the Sejm or chose during the free election of kings, who later pursued a policy not necessarily in accordance with the interest of the country. At the very end of the 17th century, in the election parliament, August II was announced to the king by a minority of the nobility, which was bribed by Russia. Stanisław August Poniatowski sat on the Warsaw throne mainly because Tsarina Katarzyna II pressed it.
In times closer to us, the Hybrid war was waged by the Soviet Union, which in the interwar period supported the communist parties and liberation movements in individual years, which were to undermine the power of his geopolitical rivals. This policy continued during the Cold War. Of course, the other side – the USA – was not passive and has almost twin activities in the Eastern Bloc – everything to weaken Moscow without the use of troops.
Let’s focus here on the works of the Russians. Already during World War II, the so -called Superpropaganda. In 2000, this entity was transformed into the Faculty of Military Information of the Military University of Russia. This is where concepts of using information technologies in military activities began to be developed. In 2000, the topic of the information war was introduced to curricula in Russian departmental institutions and universities.
As a curiosity, however, it is worth adding that the first country that used the information war on a large scale was the USA – in 1990 during the war in Iraq.
Sergei Modiesest from the Military Sciences Academy defined the goals of the hybrid conflict. It is about “achieving and maintaining an information advantage of one side by exerting a specific (…) impact on the state decision system.” In other words, it’s about exerting influence on the authorities, but by gaining control over the information space.
How does it work?
How can this look like in practice? For example, if the government of a given country would like to make a decision, which is not good for Russia, the purpose of the hybrid war will be to “press” the authorities to take a step back. This can be described on a specific example. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Finland announced that she wanted to join NATO, which hit Moscow’s interests. Although joining the alliance could not be blocked, the Kremlin just answered with a hybrid conflict – large amounts of migrants began to be sent to the border of Finland. Similar as it happened and takes place in the case of Poland. The purpose of such attacks is to show the weakness of the state and straine the possibilities of its services.
It is also worth explaining another issue regarding the information war. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many accounts appeared on the network that distributed information about the harmfulness of the vaccine on the coronavirus. He does not want to judge here, which side was right – whether the vaccine was effective and whether it brought side effects. This is not the heart of the information war! There are many indications that Russia’s services stood behind the anti -vaccination bots. Why? The reason was that the vaccination program was promoted by the Polish government and generally mainstream (well -known politicians, actors and influencers). The “hybrid” is about this: hitting the mainstream, sowing a lack of trust in the rulers and dividing society.
It is natural that in such a controversial issue as the new vaccine many people will have doubts about its effectiveness. Therefore, the task of Russian propagandists will be to fuel these anxieties in such a situation. It is no longer about which side is right here – it is important to increase social divisions.
The same scheme applies in other matters – women’s rights to abortion, bringing migrants to the country or the rights of people from the LGBT community to marry. All these topics are ideal for fueling anxieties.
The above information is crucial to concept what hybrid activities are. It is a great simplification to combine them with a specific political option – propagandists will support every side of the conflict, just to heat the atmosphere. This means that Russia can quietly support both the right, which wants to limit the import of migrants to Poland and the left, demanding the liberalization of the right to remove pregnancy.
Designing the information war strategy itself requires a lot of expert knowledge. It is necessary to know the country that takes on the goal of its history, traditions and social stereotypes. For example, a hybrid “soldier” leading the campaign in Poland will use the fact that our country was destroyed during World War II by the Germans and that Western allies did not come to help us at that time. And again: these may be correct warnings, but the context and purpose, i.e. sharing society, counts.
The language used by “trolls” is also crucial. They use very emotional wording. For example, the expression “Donald Tusk reported” sounds much more negative than “Donald Tusk informed”.
All this aims not only to divide the society, but also to influence the election decisions of voters. And again: e.g. fueling anti -immigration moods can help to win elections to right -wing parties, threatening the introduction of a total ban on abortion – leftist. Thanks to this, Russia can support those parties that can conduct a more pro -Russian policy after taking over power.
These types of information campaigns have a much greater chance of success in democratic countries than in totalitarian countries, in which the media message is controlled by the authorities. Thus, Russia may feel safer in this field than Poland or the USA.
The ultimate goal of such activities is an ideological coup. According to Yuri Bezmownowo, an expert on information war, everything is written for 20-25 years. It is about changing the worldview of a large number of society.
However, the information war is one of the elements of the puzzle. Added to this are cyber attacks and attacks. These are aimed at hindering the functioning and reducing trust in the state. It is also the last stage before the kinetic attack – it helps hackers recognize the weaknesses of the cyberspace of a given country, and understand how the services work (police, fire brigade, army).
The number of cyber attacks has been growing for several years. As reported at the end of 2024, Deputy Prime Minister, minister of digitization Krzysztof Gawkowski, the number of cyber attacks on a scale of 12 months increased by 100%, from 2022 – 200%.
Everything above does not mean that Russia will attack us on days. Everything that takes place is, however, preparations for military aggression. It does not have to happen if the Kremlin is scared.
The year 2014 was only a prologue
In 2014, the world for the first time saw an example of the Russian hybrid war on full scale, including military operations. Russia, without declaring war, took Crimea with the help of “green men” – unmarked soldiers. This was accompanied by an intensive disinformation campaign, cyber attacks and strengthening pro -Russian moods in the region.
Currently, the hybrid war continues and also concerns Poland. On the web you can easily come across the posts of “trolls”, memes that are to ridicule Russia’s opponents, or articles that also fit into the pro -Russian narrative. Knowledge, understanding what the information war is in this situation is the best weapon.
Summary
The hybrid conflict is a war about the minds of society. Its effectiveness is based on the use of modern technologies, sociotechnics and various methods that are not reached during conventional wars. Although this concept became popular only in the 21st century, its roots reach much further.
Contemporary countries must not only strengthen their armed forces, but also build social, informative and digital immunity to effectively face the new dimension of war.
