What is grey zone warfare, mentioned by India’s Chief of Defence Staff recently
- On the last day of the 2024 Raisina Dialogue, India’s Chief of Defence Staff said that “grey zone warfare” is the latest in informal warfare.
Gray zone warfare
- Grey zone warfare generally means a middle, unclear space that exists between direct conflict and peace in international relations.
- Multitude of activities fall into this zone — from nefarious economic activities, influence operations, and cyberattacks to mercenary operations, assassinations, and disinformation campaigns.
- Activities in the grey zone have always been a feature of great-power competition.
- Proxy wars, destabilizing insurgencies, legal warfare (lawfare), and information warfare—by adversaries and allies alike—have been a feature of this conflict.
- Experts claim that such methods are often employed by parties who have not had access to massive resources or power, traditionally.
- Therefore, such tactics can help gain an advantage over a more technically well-equipped adversary that is more used to conventional warfare.
The beginning
- Experts believe the Cold War era, which began after the end of the Second World War in 1945, led to conditions that favoured grey zone warfare.
- Amid the US-USSR rivalry for ideological and economic dominance, the knowledge that both parties were armed with nuclear weapons meant direct conflicts had to be restrained.
- In today's nuclear age, the price of traditional wars has become too high, and the danger of things getting worse is very serious.
- Because of this, countries are trying to achieve their goals by being aggressive in secret or by hiding.
What grey zone warfare looks like?
- Experts from the US and Europe have characterized certain Russian and Chinese actions of late as examples of gray zone warfare.
- It includes the Chinese military’s presence in the South China Sea.
- The Philippines is one of the countries which has challenged China’s claims, extending over around 80 per cent of the region.
- In December 2023, it termed the presence of more than 135 Chinese maritime militia vessels near a disputed reef as illegal.
- It accused China of firing water cannons at its boats and ramming into others, while the Chinese coast guard blamed the Philippines for hitting Chinese boats.
- A recent Reuters report mentioned that Taiwan has been expressing concerns for the past four years about increased military actions by China.
- This includes Chinese fighter jets flying over the strait regularly.
- It is part of China's strategy to pressure Taiwan with activities that fall just short of starting a full-scale conflict.
- Analysts claim that the US has also engaged in similar tactics.
- These include its economic sanctions against China and imposition of duties on Chinese imports to the US, along with maritime reconnaissance.
Prelims Takeaway
- Cold war
- WW II