By Chester Pruitt
Faculty mentor: Dr. Jason Davidson
hybrid warfare is a doctrine utilizing all the instruments of power to compensate for military weakness by developing alternatives to corrode the will to resist of adversary societies. Russia and China view the United States as having a stronger conventional military force, so the two states have resorted to hybrid warfare to strengthen their position at the expense of the United States. Within their hybrid warfare strategies, the Russian and Chinese governments have utilized their cyber, information, espionage, irregular troops, political, economic, and military capabilities. Hybrid warfare from Russia and China threaten the U.S. by attacking the democratic regime of the U.S., weakening support for democracy abroad, and stealing U.S. trade secrets. In response to these operations, the U.S. has mostly turned to economic warfare. To counter Russian hybrid warfare, the U.S. has placed economic sanctions on Russia to deter its operations. Before 2022, U.S. sanctions on Russia had little impact on the Russian economy and failed to prevent continued Russian cyber and information warfare. The newest sanctions, in response to the war in Ukraine, have the potential for greater success in deterring Russian operations, but the failure of past sanctions leaves room for doubt and the need for a new policy. In response to Chinese hybrid warfare, U.S. administrations have used an economic trade war to put pressure on the Chinese government. Despite its continued implementation, the trade war has not deterred the Chinese government from continuing hybrid operations. The proposed Build Back a Better World initiative under the Biden administration has the potential to rival the Belt and Road initiative of China, which is a significant aspect of Chinese hybrid warfare. However, the Build Back a Better World initiative has yet to be fully implemented, so the current administration should work to better initiate the program.
