Civil Protection and Domestic Security in Contemporary Hybrid Warfare

Hybrid warfare encompasses a number of dimensions such as military, political, psychological, cognitive, space, social, economic, informational, or technological. Current conflicts show that hybrid warfare, despite regional differences, is based on a common operational framework that combines conventional and unconventional tactics targeting not only military structures, but also largely targeting civilians (societies). All this makes threats more diffuse, subtle, and difficult to predict. They also often take the form of networked actions and have cascading effects in which they can produce complex secondary effects affecting a range of spheres of society and key infrastructure. In response to this spectrum of threats, individual states need to adapt their security and civil protection systems to the type of threat involved. However, most existing solutions are fragmented, resulting in a reduced ability to coordinate and adequately prepare civilians for hybrid threat conditions. Given these challenges, the book establishes a common language that helps shape coherent risk management and protective mechanisms in dealing with hybrid attacks. It also points in a new direction in ensuring the reliability of information provided to civilians, which is crucial in a hybrid war environment where disinformation is used as one of the main tools of destabilisation. Drawing on theoretical knowledge and practical experiences from around the world, the book provides tools to effectively respond to existing and future conflicts and hybrid wars. Above and beyond this, bridging the gap between concrete knowledge of hybrid warfare and operational needs, this book explores how public administrations, public services, NGOs, local communities, and other actors play a key role in protecting the population during such non-traditional armed conflicts.