Russian 'Hybrid Warfare' and the Annexation of Crimea: The Modern Application of Soviet Political Warfare

Description

Western academics, politicians, and military leaders alike have labelled Russia's actions in Crimea and its follow-on operations in Eastern Ukraine as a new form of “Hybrid Warfare.” In this book, Kent DeBenedictis argues that, despite these claims, the 2014 Crimean operation is more accurately to be seen as the Russian Federation's modern application of historic Soviet political warfare practices-the overt and covert informational, political, and military tools used to influence the actions of foreign governments and foreign populations. DeBenedictis links the use of Soviet practices, such as the use of propaganda, disinformation, front organizations, and forged political processes, in the Crimea in 2014 to the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 (the “Prague Spring”) and the earliest stages of the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Through an in-depth case study analysis of these conflicts, featuring original interviews, government documents and Russian and Ukrainian sources, this book demonstrates that the operation, which inspired discussions about Russian “Hybrid Warfare,” is in fact the modern adaptation of Soviet political warfare tools and not the invention of a new type of warfare. Prelims Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Figures Foreword Acknowledgements Notes on the text Abbreviations Map of Crimea with key locations Chapter 1: Introduction Structure of the book Case study selection Brief historical overviews of the case studies Key sources Chapter 2: Security environment theories Counter-revolution theory Evolution of Russian security perceptions Colour revolution theory Parallels between the theories The connection between the theories and state warfare practices Soviet political warfare Chapter 3: Informational tools Control of the domestic media Control of the target country’s media Propaganda Dezinformatsia Chapter 4: Political tools Collaborators within foreign political parties and foreign governments Manufacturing the political process Invasion invitation Chapter 5: Military tools Maskirovka Threat of increased hostilities Negotiations Chapter 6: Conclusion References Index