A Whole-Of-Government Approach to Gray Zone Warfare

A Whole-Of-Government Approach to Gray Zone Warfare
Author: Elizabeth Troeder
Publisher:
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2019-12-26
Genre:
ISBN: 9781651245477

Gray zone warfare, also known as irregular warfare, political warfare, hybrid warfare, asymmetric warfare, and unconventional warfare, is increasingly becoming the norm. It is a significant concern today, threatening U.S. national security as well as the security of U.S. allies and partners. Despite its population's immense capacity for creativity and innovation, the United States is losing this war. The Department of Defense (DoD) has historically led the gray zone war fight with assistance from other Federal agencies. However, it cannot require other agencies to engage, and it cannot be aware of all of the effective tools available across the whole-of-government, nor can it know how its proposed way forward may conflict with approaches made by other agencies. This monograph provides an assessment of the gray zone tactics used against the most active U.S. adversaries, and builds the case for requiring U.S. Federal agencies to request that the Deputy National Security Advisor convene a National Security Council/Deputies Committee (NSC/DC) meeting whenever any Federal agency deems a gray zone approach to an international issue is appropriate. It also recommends that a standing National Security Council/Policy Coordination Committee (NSC/PCC) for gray zone solutions be developed, with sub-NSC/PCCs for each of the most active adversaries so that experts can be quickly assembled in times of crisis.

A Whole-of-Government Approach to Gray Zone Warfare

A Whole-of-Government Approach to Gray Zone Warfare
Author: Elizabeth Troeder
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2019-05-08
Genre: Hybrid warfare
ISBN: 9781076543264

Gray zone warfare, also known as irregular warfare, political warfare, hybrid warfare, asymmetric warfare, and unconventional warfare, is a significant concern today, threatening U.S. national security as well as the security of U.S. allies and partners. Despite its population's immense capacity for creativity and innovation, the United States is losing this war. This monograph builds the case for convening a National Security Council/Deputies Committee (NSC/DC) meeting whenever a gray zone solution is needed to ensure a solution is developed from a whole-of-government perspective, and that a standing National Security Council/Policy Coordination Committee (NSC/PCC) for gray zone solutions be established so that subject matter experts from all appropriate government agencies and organizations can be quickly assembled in times of crisis.

Great Power Competition with Russia in the Gray Zone

Great Power Competition with Russia in the Gray Zone
Author: Jeffrey Lesperance
Publisher:
Total Pages: 20
Release: 2021
Genre: Asymmetric warfare
ISBN:

"The current geopolitical environment is filled with uncertainty and complexity. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States became the world's single super power in a new unipolarity. Today, after multiple decades of involvement in conflicts around the globe and two enduring wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States finds itself no longer the world's sole power. Over that last 30 years, both Russia and China have emerged as regional and global powers. Their rise to regional and global preeminence has created a multipolar world and ignited great power competition with the United States. Because the United States maintains a military advantage, both China and Russia have become adept at focusing their competition against the United States using all instruments of power, or using a whole of government approach to achieve their strategic objectives in order to avoid armed conflict. Increasingly, China and Russia use gray zone warfare, or tactics, to gain an advantage over the United States. Gray zone warfare, also known as hybrid warfare, asymmetric warfare or political warfare, is sophisticated and complex and presents the United States with numerous challenges across the globe. Russia cannot compete with the United States militarily. As a result, they resort to Gray Zone tactics to achieve their strategic and political objectives revolving around increasing and expanding their influence domestically and internationally while simultaneously attempting to undermine the United States and fracture our alliances and partnerships. Russia's Gray Zone campaigns across the globe are expanding their influence and attempting to undermine the trans-Atlantic alliance, NATO and the European Union. The United States must use a whole of government approach to counter Russian Gray Zone activities. Only a synchronized and coordinated effort using all instruments of national power can effectively counter Russian Gray Zone activities and influence."--Abstract.

By Other Means Part I

By Other Means Part I
Author: Kathleen H. Hicks
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2019-10-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442281197

The United States is being confronted by the liabilities of its strength. Competitors are finding avenues for threatening U.S. interests without triggering escalation. Their approaches lie in the contested arena between routine statecraft and open warfare—the "gray zone." The United States has yet to articulate a comprehensive approach to deterring competitors in the gray zone. A concrete and actionable campaign plan is needed to deal with the gray zone challenge; in order to do so, the United States must identify and employ a broad spectrum of tools and concepts to deter, and if needed, to compete and win contestations in the gray zone.

Hybrid Warfare and the Gray Zone Threat

Hybrid Warfare and the Gray Zone Threat
Author: Douglas C. Lovelace
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2016
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0190255315

Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents is a series that provides primary source documents and expert commentary on various topics relating to the worldwide effort to combat terrorism, as well as efforts by the United States and other nations to protect their national security interests. Volume 141, Hybrid Warfare and the Gray Zone Threat, considers the mutation of the international security environment brought on by decades of unrivaled U.S. conventional military power. The term "hybrid warfare" encompasses conventional warfare, irregular warfare, cyberwarfare, insurgency, criminality, economic blackmail, ethnic warfare, "lawfare," and the application of low-cost but effective technologies to thwart high-cost technologically advanced forces. This volume is divided into five sections covering different aspects of this topic, each of which is introduced by expert commentary written by series editor Douglas C. Lovelace, Jr. This volume contains thirteen useful documents exploring various facets of the shifting international security environment, including a detailed report on hybrid warfare issued by the Joint Special Operations University and a White Paper on special operations forces support to political warfare prepared by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, as well as a GAO report and a CRS report covering similar topics. Specific coverage is also given to topics such as cybersecurity and cyberwarfare, the efficacy of sanctions in avoiding and deterring hybrid warfare threats, and the intersection of the military and domestic U.S. law enforcement.

Russian Influence and Unconventional Warfare Operations in the Gray Zone

Russian Influence and Unconventional Warfare Operations in the Gray Zone
Author: Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Cap
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 60
Release: 2018-03-31
Genre:
ISBN: 9781987420975

The invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea in the spring of 2014 represents the breadth of Russia's influence campaign in Ukraine and the violation of Ukrainian sovereignty represents the first attempt to change the boundary of a European nation since the end of the Cold War. Russian operations span the spectrum from covert information operations intended to influence political opinion to overt deployment of military forces for unconventional warfare designed to dominate civilian populations. We cannot afford to understate its importance or ignore its lessons. The commander of United States European Command [EUCOM], General Scaparrotti, characterized the Russian operations in Crimea as activities short of war or, commonly referred to [as] the "gray zone." The Russian influence campaign and unconventional warfare efforts in Ukraine contain all the hallmarks of the gray zone operations: ambiguity of attribution, indirect approach, and below the threshold of open conflict. Russia's gray zone activities in Crimea are important for us to review, and unique because it was an influence campaign of propaganda and disinformation, culminating in the employment of Russian special operations forces on the sovereign territory of Ukraine. General Scaparrotti [has also] stated that Russia is using a range of military and nonmilitary tools to, "undermine the international system and discredit those in the West who have created it." [According to] General Scaparrotti, Russia takes not only a military approach, but a, "whole-of-government approach" to information warfare to include intelligence and other groups, which accounts for its rapid and agile use of social media and cyber.

Deterring Russia in the Gray Zone - Audacious Perspective Arguing for Holistic Strategy Using Instruments of National Power Across the Diplomacy, Info

Deterring Russia in the Gray Zone - Audacious Perspective Arguing for Holistic Strategy Using Instruments of National Power Across the Diplomacy, Info
Author: U. S. Military
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2019-03-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781091495418

This is an important 2019 report about America's strategy for dealing with Russia. In order to deter Russian activity in the gray zone, the United States must shift its strategic framework from a predominantly military-centric model to one that comprises a whole-of-government approach. A whole-of-government approach requires the simultaneous application of various DIME measures.One of the most complex challenges facing the United States and its allies today is how to deal with an increasingly bold and aggressive Russia. As evidenced by its invasion of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea, and unremitting influence operations against the West, Russia has engaged in an antagonistic foreign policy campaign that has both challenged and befuddled the United States and its allies. How should the United States respond? What measures can it take without igniting a major conflict? These are some of the difficult questions that the authors, active duty military officers, and national security fellows from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University address in this timely and prescient monograph. They offer an audacious perspective on how the United States should deal with Russia in this unconventional battlespace referred to by scholars today as the "gray zone," or the conceptual space between war and peace where nations compete to advance their national interests. The authors argue that a more holistic strategy, one that relies less on conventional military might and more on the full array of instruments of national power, is necessary to more effectively operate in the gray zone. Specifically, they offer and expound upon myriad policy recommendations across the diplomacy, information, military, and economic (DIME) model, providing U.S. policymakers with a range of options to confront and deter Russia while protecting vital U.S. national security interests.This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.Chapter 1. The Gray Zone * A Whole-of-Government Approach: The Diplomacy, Information, Military, and Economic (DIME) Apparatus * Understanding the Gray Zone * How is Russia Exploiting the Gray Zone? * The Gerasimov Doctrine * Gray Zone Challenges * Endnotes - Chapter 1 * Chapter 2. The Action Versus Inaction Conundrum * The Consequences of U.S. Inaction: The Status Quo Approach * "Damned if You Don't, Not if You Do" - A Call for Action * Endnotes - Chapter 2 * Chapter 3. Rethinking Diplomatic Relations with Russia: The Common Ground Approach * Reset Diplomatic Staffing Levels * Promoting North Atlantic Treaty * Organization (NATO)-Russian Relations * Military-to-Military Cooperation * Cybersecurity * Syria * Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security * Arms Control * Space Exploration * Conclusion * Endnotes - Chapter 3 * Chapter 4. Shaping the Information Environment * Fighting Russian Misinformation Overseas I: The GEC * Fighting Russian Misinformation Overseas II: NATO Overt Actions * Fighting Russian Misinformation Overseas III: Covert Action * Fighting Russian Misinformation at Home: The OFI * Congressional Action * Presidential Leadership * Conclusion * Endnotes - Chapter 4 * Chapter 5. Creatively Leveraging Military Might * Coercion-Deterrence Dynamic - Deterrence by Denial * Revitalizing NATO * Improving Warfighting Capability in Europe * Conclusion * Endnotes - Chapter 5 * Chapter 6. Mastering the Art of Economic Statecraft * Trade Policy * Foreign Aid * Economic and Financial Sanctions * Shaping the New Energy Landscape * Conclusion * Endnotes - Chapter 6 * Chapter 7. U.S. Gray Zone Policy * Recommendations * Diplomacy Recommendations * Information Recommendations * Military Recommendations * Economic Recommendations

Deterring Russia in the Gray Zone

Deterring Russia in the Gray Zone
Author: Michael Christopher McCarthy
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2019-03-20
Genre: Deterrence (Strategy)
ISBN: 9781076805300

The United States lacks a cohesive strategy to deter Russian aggression. Despite being militarily and economically inferior, Russia has undermined the United States and its allies by exploiting the "gray zone," or the conceptual space between war and peace where nations compete to advance their national interests. In dealing with Russia, the United States must shift its strategic framework from a predominantly military-centric model to one that comprises a whole-of-government approach. The holistic approach must leverage a combination of diplomacy, information, military, and economic (DIME) measures. In this timely and prescient monograph, three active duty military officers and national security fellows from the Harvard Kennedy School look to address this contemporary and complex problem. Through extensive research and consultation with some of the nation's and academia's foremost experts, the authors offer policymakers a menu of strategic options to deter Russia in the gray zone and protect vital U.S. national security interests.

Mastering the Gray Zone

Mastering the Gray Zone
Author: Michael J. Mazarr
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2015
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 9781329784611

"Discussions of an emerging practice of 'gray zone' conflict have become increasingly common throughout the U.S. Army and the wider national security community, but the concept remains ill-defined and poorly understood. This monograph aims to contribute to the emerging dialogue about competition and rivalry in the gray zone by defining the term, comparing and contrasting it with related theories, and offering tentative hypotheses about this increasingly important form of state competition. The idea of operating gradually and somewhat covertly to remain below key thresholds of response is hardly new. Many approaches being used today -- such as support for proxy forces and insurgent militias -- have been employed for millennia. The monograph argues that the emergence of this more coherent and intentional form of gray zone conflict is best understood as the confluence of three factors. Understood in this context, gray zone strategies can be defined as a form of conflict that pursues political objectives through integrated campaigns; employs mostly nonmilitary or nonkinetic tools; strives to remain under key escalatory or red line thresholds to avoid outright conventional conflict; and moves gradually toward its objectives rather than seeking conclusive results in a relatively limited period of time. Having examined the scope and character of gray zone conflict, the monograph offers seven hypotheses about this emerging form of rivalry. Finally, the monograph offers recommendations for the United States and its friends and allies to deal with this challenge"--Publisher's web site.