FROZEN CONFLICTS AS A TOOL OF THE RUSSIAN HYBRID WARFARE IN THE POST-SOVIET SPACE
FROZEN CONFLICTS AS A TOOL OF THE RUSSIAN HYBRID WARFARE IN THE POST-SOVIET SPACE

Author(s): George-Alin Oprea, Rares Gabriel Bercaru
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Security and defense, Military policy, Geopolitics
Published by: Institut za strategijska istraživanja
Keywords: Russian Federation; hybrid warfare; frozen conflicts; post-Soviet area; European security
Summary/Abstract: Since the collapse of the USSR, the Russian Federation has been seeking to maintain its influence in the so-called ”Near Abroad” by employing a wide range of tactics and instruments collectively known as the tools of hybrid warfare. In certain situations, the process of achieving this interest has led to the emergence of frozen conflicts in the territory of some states that belonged to the Soviet Union. An interesting question arises as to whether frozen conflicts are a tool of this hybrid philosophy or not. This paper aims to demonstrate that frozen conflicts represent hybrid warfare tactics that allows the Russian Federation to keep these states in its sphere of influence with negative consequences not only for their security, but also for European security. In order to do that, the theoretical research focused on the understanding of the concepts of ”hybrid warfare” and ”frozen conflicts” will be carried out followed by an empirical analysis based on the connection between these two concepts with reference to the conflicts in the European Post-Soviet area.

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