Confrontation between states and various non-state actors throughout human history has never been reduced to purely military means and has not been limited to periods of officially declared wars. The history of hybrid methods of warfare is not only a field, but also a promising area of research. But in the context of immediate practical needs, it is advisable to analyze modern forms of their use and understanding. An important prerequisite for the emergence of hybrid warfare was the prohibition of war under international law, which, of course, reflected significant changes in the worldview of much of humanity. The modern and general form of prohibition of war under international law is enshrined in the UN Charter. These principles have been consistently disclosed and improved in subsequent UN acts.

Hybrid warfare can be defined as a new type of confrontation between states and nonstate actors, dialectically linked to the prohibition of conventional warfare in international law as a means of national policy. In the narrow sense of the word for military analysts, hybrid warfare is a combination of regular and irregular methods of warfare. In a broader and more realistic view, hybrid warfare is a form of confrontation based on informal, unauthorized, or disguised non-military and military hostilities aimed at destroying all spheres of society, including the functioning of the state and economy, social communications, and human behavior. The following characteristics of hybrid warfare can be identified: cross-border, totality and continuity; informal nature, in which states avoid the formal declaration of war; focus on creating controlled real or subjectively felt chaos; dominance of non-military means; variety and situationality of methods that are not subject to accurate classification, but correspond to the vulnerabilities of each sphere of life and values of man and society; lack of a clear line between foreign and domestic policy in implementing and countering hybrid warfare; widespread use of methods of psychological influence on the population.

Bibliography

Authored books

1. Fleming B, The Hybrid Threat Concept: Contemporary War, Military Planning and the Advent of Unrestricted Operational Art. Fort Leavenworth (United States Army Command and General Staff College 2011) (in English).

 2. Tarasiuk V, Zastosuvannia informatsiinykh tekhnolohii v umovakh hibrydnoi viiny (GlobeEdit 2020) (in Ukrainian).

Edited books

3. Sari A (ed), Hybrid threats and the law: Concepts, trends and implications (The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats 2020) (in English).

4. Hibrydni zahrozy Ukraini i suspilna bezpeka. Dosvid YeS i Skhidnoho partnerstva. Analitychnyi dokument (Martyniuk V red, 2018) (in Ukrainian).

5. Horbulin V (red), Svitova hibrydna viina: ukrainskyi front (NISD 2017) (in Ukrainian).

 Journal articles

6. Pyrozhkov S, Bozhok Ye, Khamitov N, ‘Natsionalna stiikist (rezylientnist) krainy: stratehiia i taktyka vyperedzhennia hibrydnykh zahroz’ (2021) 8 Visnyk NAN Ukrainy (in Ukrainian).

Websites

7. Roepke W-D, Thankey H, ‘Resilience: the first line of defence’ (NATO Review, 27.02.2019) <https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2019/02/27/resilience-thefirstline-of-defence/index.html> (accessed: 10.01.2022) (in Ukrainian).

8. Gerasimov V, ‘Cennost’ nauki v predvidenii. Novye vyzovy trebujut pereosmyslit’ formy i sposoby vedenija boevyh dejstvij’ (Voenno-promyshlennyj kur’er, 27.02.2013) <http://www.vpk-news.ru/articles/14632> (accessed: 10.01.2022) (in Russian).

9. Horbulin V, ‘Iakyi Feniks narodytsia zi zgharyshcha svitovoi hibrydnoi viiny?’ (Dzerkalo tyzhnia) <https://zn.ua/ukr/article/print/internal/yakiy-feniks-naroditsya-zi-zgarischasvitovoyigibridnoyi-viyni-259112_.html> (accessed: 10.01.2022) (in Ukrainian).