Really?
Coming just days after Britain moved quickly to blame a nerve-agent attack against a former Russia spy on Moscow, the [British national security] review says London must use its soft power and communications resources to combat new hybrid warfare. [emphasis added]
There is no new "hybrid" warfare. And I pointed that out early.
"Hybrid" warfare is basically Russia committing an act of aggression--whether murdering an opponent or invading a country--and denying it, while the West goes along with that fiction:
Good Lord people, Russian "hybrid warfare" is just Russian aggression that we pretend isn't happening. Sadly, there's nothing new or novel about that.
It is a distracting concept that the American military has finally decided not to embrace.
What happened in Britain is that Russia tried to murder two people--and they may die yet or likely be crippled if they do survive--in a manner that scares the Hell out of any other opponent of Putin who believes they found safety abroad.
And Russia denied doing it.
What soft power and communication resource is going to combat that? Will the British begin a #NerveGasisBad or #BringBackOurSkripals hashtag campaign?
Will they mobilize resources to convince the world that Russian denials are false?
Will Russia suddenly realize the error of their ways with clever memes?
Will the Skripals be any less dead or crippled for life?
The point of using nerve gas on the Skripals rather than arranging a fatal fall down the stairwell of their flat is to make it obvious that Russia killed these people--these opponents of Putin. And if Russia gets away with this at the price of Britain simply amplifying what Russia wants everyone to know--that Russia reached into the West to strike two people--the British "counter" effort actually reinforces the point of the Russian action.
Information war is certainly appropriate. But WebOps are no substitute for LeadOps when you are involved in a war. Basically, Russian intelligence operatives in Britain have to start disappearing--either killed or dropped into some black hole somewhere to finish their days (or be traded)--to win this subliminal war--which is how I described Russia's war against Ukraine--being waged by Russia against Britain.
Prime Minister May said that Britain will employ the "full range of our capabilities" to counter Russia. Will they?
UPDATE: Huh:
Russia said on Wednesday it would respond in kind to the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats by the West over the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury.
I think we can call it progress when Russia pledges to respond to expulsions with mere expulsions rather than more murder and invasion.
