HYBRID WARFARE ESCALATION: NEW CHALLENGES AND COUNTERMEASURES

Abstract

The prospects of hybrid warfare against the background of civilizational development are considered. The latest challenges associated with the improvement of hybrid warfare technologies and the aggravation of the confrontation between political forces in the modern world are identified. The main directions, means and mechanisms of countering hybrid threats, primarily associated with Russia's aggression against Ukraine, are clarified. It is argued that hybrid wars will serve as an important component of international relations in the future, since differences between civilizations and individual countries will persist. Along with the improvement of information and communication technologies, their role in achieving political goals will grow. With the development of artificial intelligence and the improvement of social media, hybrid wars will be able to intensify disinformation, interference in elections, influence public opinion, attacks on government systems and critical infrastructure, trade restrictions, energy blackmail, threats with nuclear weapons, etc. Since hybrid wars are already today characterized by unpredictability, the ability to constantly change forms and methods of influence, the international community must learn to act in advance, respond to various types of hybrid influences, and take into account Ukraine's experience gained in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war. It is concluded that in the future, the strategy of Ukraine and the world community should combine defensive and offensive actions in order to protect itself from the actions of an opponent who has a significant advantage in military and financial and economic potential and imposes its will and interests. Gradually, this strategy should return international relations to the course of democratic rule of law and European security, which provides for: the inviolability of borders, the construction of effective energy security, the prevention of the use of force in solving political problems; overcoming latent threats, which include terrorism, transnational organized crime, illegal migration, cyberattacks, separatism, global climate change, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.