The article critiques the popular use of the term 'hybrid war,' arguing it is overused and semantically imprecise. The term originated from a 2005 U.S. Marine Corps article describing adversaries mixing conventional military force with irregular tactics such as guerrilla warfare and influence operations, exemplified by Hezbollah. The author contrasts this with the current use of the term to describe Russian tactics since 2022, involving a variety of political, economic, informational, and military actions below the threshold of open war. The article advocates for more precise terminology like 'confrontation' or 'contest' and calls attention to the complexity and diversity of modern conflict methods that do not always amount to outright war.

The article critiques the popular use of the term 'hybrid war,' arguing it is overused and semantically imprecise. The term originated from a 2005 U.S. Marine Corps article describing adversaries mixing conventional military force with irregular tactics such as guerrilla warfare and influence operations, exemplified by Hezbollah. The author contrasts this with the current use of the term to describe Russian tactics since 2022, involving a variety of political, economic, informational, and military actions below the threshold of open war. The article advocates for more precise terminology like 'confrontation' or 'contest' and calls attention to the complexity and diversity of modern conflict methods that do not always amount to outright war.