Accession Number:

AD1013691

Title:

Operating in the Gray Zone: An Alternative Paradigm for U.S. Military Strategy

Descriptive Note:

Technical Report

Corporate Author:

Army War College -Strategic Studies Institute Carlisle United States

Personal Author(s):

• Echevarria,Antulio II J.

Report Date:

2016-04-01

Pagination or Media Count:

71.0

Abstract:

Recent events in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, and the South China Sea continue to take interesting, if not surprising, turns. As a result, many security experts are calling for revolutionary measures to address what they wrongly perceive to be a new form of warfare, called hybrid or gray zone wars, but which is, in fact, an application of classic coercive strategies. These strategies, enhanced by evolving technologies, have exploited a number of weaknesses in the Wests security structures. To remedy one of those weaknesses, namely, the lack of an appropriate planning framework, this monograph suggests a way to re-center the current U.S. campaign-planning paradigm to make it more relevant to contemporary uses of coercive strategies.

Descriptors:

• Military strategy
• warfare
• military history
• Deterrence
• Dynamics
• military operations

Subject Categories:

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE