IRMO Brief 01/2020, "In Search of a Systematic Approach to Hybrid Threats"

Introduction

Hybrid threats and hybrid conflicts and wars are one of those terms that have suddenly entered in public knowledge, raising many concerns. This is not surprising because there is no common and generally accepted definition
of hybrid threats by which these processes are defined. The emergence of this term in the regional media space was, in the beginning, connected with journalist’s perception that intention of the state is to impose censorship
of writing and publishing. Over time, fear in the media receded and gave way to understanding the complexity of this issue. Specifically, hybrid threats are not a new phenomenon to theorists of conflicts and wars. What makes hybrid warfare different from previous wars is the change in the importance and intensity of the individual components of the conflict, such as information or influence warfare component. In fact, until the end of the 20th century, information and media operations, that could be called influence or cognitive operations, were in the function of military operations.

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