18 February 2021: The Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS) organised an international webinar on ‘Hybrid Warfare against Pakistan: Challenges and Response Options’, here in Islamabad to discuss the complex dynamics of hybrid war that are at play in South Asia and analyse how they are taking a toll on the country’s national security. In his Introductory Remarks, Air Marshal M Ashfaque Arain (Retd), Director, Strategic Defence and Security at CASS, said that spearheaded by non-traditional use of power centres, not only great powers but various middle powers were also engaging in hybrid warfare to destabilize, demoralize and disintegrate their core adversaries. Conceptualizing the theory and practice of hybrid warfare, Sir Lawrence Freedman, Professor Emeritus, King’s College London, outlined that sabotage, propaganda and deception had always been part of war strategy and there was nothing new in hybrid warfare. However, he argued that duration, more than decisiveness had become a critical factor in war because if the enemy proved to be resilient, then over time non-military factors become progressively more important. In such cases, the ability to absorb a surprise attack and draw out a war was the winning strategy, he emphasized. On the subject of ‘India’s Hybrid Warfare … Continue reading Hybrid Warfare Against Pakistan : Challenges And Response Options