Strategic Communication as a Mean for Countering Hybrid Threats

Abstract

The term “hybrid” can trigger a new conceptualization of dominance and victory. Hybrid threats are innovative, adaptable, and complex, aiming to surprise the target and gain the initiative. They take place at multiple levels, from tactical, to operational and strategic, and at the same time, horizontally by employing various tools, as well as vertically with the fluctuation of intensity depending on the situation. In parallel, they are structured in such a way as to effectively target the opponent’s weaknesses (Śliwa et al., Estonian J. Military Stud. Sõjateadlane 7:86–108, 2018).

One could imagine hybridity with the meteorological phenomenon of a rainbow, where, by reflection, refraction, and dispersion of light in water droplets, a spectrum of light appears in the sky. Additionally, a rainbow is not located at a specific location from the observer, but comes from an optical illusion caused by water droplets viewed from a certain angle relative to a light source. Even if an observer sees another observer who seems “under” or “at the end” of a rainbow, the second observer will see a different rainbow—farther off—at the same angle as seen by the first observer (https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/rainbow/#:~:text=When%20sunlight%20hits%20a%20rain,is%20separated%2C%20producing%20a%20rainbow (last access 26.01.2023)).

In the international relations and military studies field, the light rays can be the available instruments of power an international actor has available, so by the way they are used against an opponent, a spectrum of these appears on the surface. When someone tries to detect and define the threat, it is placed in the “gray zone” between war and peace, forcing him to wonder, what might be the appropriate response (Julio, Hybrid warfare: NATO’s new strategic challenge? 166 DSC 15 E bis, NATO Parliamentary Assembly, p 3, 2015).What are the lenses through which each actor sees the environment around him and how does he understand a possible threat, a potential threat or an immediate danger to his national interest?

In the above context, the hybrid threats concept attempts to synthesize a complex and evolving phenomenon, where state and nonstate actors use diverse means and tools to influence different forms of decision-making, undermine citizens’ trust in democratic processes and institutions, exacerbate political polarization, and spread confusion about geopolitical events with the ultimate goal of destabilizing the victim while reinforcing the political vision and values of the offender (García et al., Strategic communications as a key factor in countering hybrid threats. European Parliamentary Research Service, Brussels, 2021).

In this vein, this paper consists of an interdisciplinary approach to the communication management of hybrid threats and crises, and through the interdisciplinary study of the disciplines of International Relations and Communication, aims to analyze the concept of hybrid threats, and to present the role that strategic communication plays as a means to counter them.

According to the authors’ perspective, strategic communication is defined as a systematic series of sustained and coherent activities, conducted across strategic, operational and tactical levels, that enables understanding of target audiences, identifies effective conduits, and develops and promotes ideas and opinions through those conduits to promote and sustain particular types of behavior (Tatham, ARAG Special Ser. Defence Acad. U. K., 18:3, 2008). Its main goal is to provide narratives to the targeted audiences through appropriate channels in a timely way in order to prevent, detect, and reduce or eliminate the consequences of hybrid threats (García et al., Strategic communications as a key factor in countering hybrid threats. European Parliamentary Research Service, Brussels, 2021).

Within this context, this paper will present how the strategic communications, as a component of national strategy can help the crisis managers or the decision makers of a government to counter hybrid threats and respond to current and future national security challenges.