# Hybrid Warfare **Domain:** Security studies / Conflict **Doc Type:** Developed Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition **Hybrid warfare** describes the coordinated use of military and non-military, overt and covert, conventional and irregular instruments to pursue strategic objectives. The mix can include force, proxies, cyber operations, disinformation, economic leverage, sabotage, and legal or political pressure. ## Significance The concept directs attention from isolated moves to a portfolio. Different actions can reinforce one another while remaining below separate institutional response thresholds. This makes attribution, sequencing, and cumulative effect more important than asking whether any single act “counts” as war. The term is contested and can obscure older practices by presenting them as novel. It should be used only when the combination of instruments and their strategic coordination are specified, rather than as a synonym for complexity or hostility. ## Sources - NATO, [Countering hybrid threats](https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/deterrence-and-defence/countering-hybrid-threats) - European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, [Hybrid threats](https://www.hybridcoe.fi/hybrid-threats-as-a-phenomenon/) ## Routes [[wiki/Gray Zone|Gray Zone]] · [[wiki/The Weaponisation of Everything|The Weaponisation of Everything]] · [[wiki/Cognitive Warfare|Cognitive Warfare]] · [[wiki/Maskirovka|Maskirovka]]