Fighting Hybrid: Hybrid Threats to Pakistan’s National Security

Abstract

As warfare passes through its fifth generation of evolution, the coming of Hybrid Warfare marks a major mutation of its journey. As geopolitical biases gravitate eastwards and international realignments deepen roots, Pakistan finds itself at the epicenter of the power struggle between the geopolitical poles. Its arch-rival has also swooped in to take advantage of any opportunity afforded herein. Together, Pakistan’s protagonists have subjected the country to a plethora of hybrid onslaughts, cutting through all possible domains of the human experience; diplomatic, economic, military, informational, legal, and social, etc. Through qualitative research within the realism theory domain, this study finds that the responsibility of fighting a hybrid onslaught is not to be relegated to the military prong alone. Instead, a whole-of-the-nation approach has to be adopted to safeguard national security, which may include honing intelligence capabilities, developing and employing diplomatic muscle, nurturing a more
robust economy, educating the nation about the hybrid threat, diversifying the media’s portfolio, leveraging international legal frameworks, establishing Hybrid Warfare Centers of Excellence, eliminating terrorism and subnationalistic sentiments and maintaining a credible deterrent.