Contemporary Conflict: The Role of Hybrid and Assymmetric Threats

In recent decades, the international stage has witnessed warfare’s evolution away from conventional tactics. Whereas, historically, rivaling nation-states dueled on rigid battlefields to determine a clear victor, modern tactics have blurred the lines between war and peace while also removing definite fronts, actors, and necessary capabilities. This is representative of contemporary asymmetric threats: generally used by weaker actors in conflict to exploit vulnerabilities in a more powerful opponent, they circumvent direct confrontation while being irregular and difficult to combat. In unison with traditional war tactics, these asymmetric conflicts combine to form hybrid warfare. This paper will seek to define asymmetric and hybrid threats, their status- modeling conflict in the 21st century, and the actors, both state and non-state, that drive their use. Further, a variety of case studies will be discussed to exemplify asymmetric and hybrid tactics in warfare. Finally, national and international defense systems will be examined, from which recommendations to combat asymmetric and hybrid tactics will be made