Hybridkrig - militærteoriens Janusansikt? I hvilken grad kan hybridkrig som militærteoretisk begrep bidra til innsikt i pågående og fremtidige komplekse væpnede konflikter

摘要

This thesis examines the theoretical construct of hybrid war, a newly introduced concept forrethinking modern complex conflicts. The study departs from the following research question:“How is hybrid war understood, and to what extent does the hybrid war construct support auseful perception of contemporary and prospective armed conflicts?” The aim of the study istwofold: Firstly, to conceptualize the term hybrid war, both by defining the context, and bysuggesting a framework for analysis. And, secondly, to analyse whether this theoreticalconstruct contributes to a useful and substantial insight for understanding ongoing andemerging armed conflicts of our time.The working method comprises an extensive analysis of written material on military theorysuch as books, reports and monographs, in addition to historical and contemporary studies, aswell as articles and a variety of internet sources. Additionally, a two-case empirical study – onthe Second Lebanon War in 2006 and the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 respectively – isadded to evaluate the feasibility of the hybrid war construct as an academic tool.The thesis suggests that the hybrid war construct provides a useful instrument to examine thedynamics and logics of a conflict actor’s planning, preparation and execution of armedresistance and combat operations against a superior high-technology conventional opponent.As such, the concept emerges within an asymmetric context employing both kinetic as well asnon-kinetic means. A so-called hybrid actor is characterised by one who utilizes capabilitieswithin the spheres of conventional, irregular, terrorist, and criminal approaches, including‘soft-war’ approaches like information warfare and cyber-attack. Hybrid war is executed in anorchestrated “convergence and combination”-like fashion.By conclusion, the hybrid war construct may pave the way for a new way of thinking withregards to contemporary armed conflicts, challenging the academic establishment andencouraging the military policymakers towards a renewed concept development.