Center of Pakistan and International Relations hosted a virtual conference on February 4, 2021, to gather insights from the technical experts and policymakers related to hybrid warfare and its implications on national security. A diverse panel comprising of five experts from the USA, UK, Lithuania and Pakistan was part of the discussion and they shared the conceptual understanding, International law perspective, academic approaches, and case studies of hybrid warfare in a 2-hour long session.
Eminent policymakers, members of the diplomatic circle, military and academic community participated in the session and asked questions pertaining to the national and individual security emanating from the incorporation of hybrid warfare by nation-states against their adversaries. This session was part of the series of conferences COPAIR has been hosting for the last two years and it will result in the form of policy recommendations that will be provided to the national security-related public institutions.
Key Takeaways:
- Brian L. Steed-Associate Professor from Command and General Staff College USA: During his presentation, he shared the different forms of narratives and the case of ISIS. He concluded by stating that Pakistan needs to give space to different narratives to develop a national narrative in a holistic manner.
- Amna Malik-President COPAIR: Commended the efforts of Pakistan military forces in countering Indian hybrid threats and said that there is a need to equip ourselves with the technologies to deter the grey zone challenges and to safeguard Pakistan’s national interest.
- Alaa Al Aridi– International Public Law Expert and PhD researcher at Vilnius University: There is a need for due diligence to counter the cases of becoming a victim state for cyber-attacks on a third country and there is a need for cooperation in all fields, nationally and internationally, to overcome the hybrid threats
- Dr Masood Khattak– Lecturer of Politics and International Relations at IIUI: Recommended that there is a need for effective counterintelligence operations, socio-economic development in affected regions, establishing a counter-narrative, and regional/global diplomatic manoeuvring to counter India’s offensive and coercive diplomacy
- Ofer Fridman-Lecturer at Kings College London: There is a need for conceptual clarity and stamping out the overlapping and erratic definition of hybrid warfare. He stressed that war is itself hybrid and all elements incorporated by NATO and other actors in the realm of hybrid war are more related to the grand strategy of a nation