Hybrid War as a Type of Asymmetric Actions

The article analyzed the phenomenon of hybrid war, considered its qualitatively new parameters. The concept of "hybrid war" was revealed, and its content and semantic load was clarified. Hybrid war is a special type of armed conflict in which there is a clash of symmetric and asymmetric actions. It was found that asymmetry is an important characteristic of many modern armed conflicts, including a hybrid one. The defining components of hybrid wars, with the help of which simultaneous influence on the enemy is carried out, are military, political, economical, informational, ideological, psychological, technological, energetical. The purpose of the article is a conceptual understanding of the essence, components and features of hybrid war, one of which is the asymmetry of actions. The formation of conceptions about modern dimensions of hybrid war objectively determined the use of general scientific methods. The method of analysis and synthesis was used in the study of the essence and specifics of hybrid war at the current stage. The method of system analysis made it possible to consider the concept of "hybrid war" as a certain integral set of elements. The use of historical method gave the opportunity to achieve the in-depth understanding of the hybrid war essence. The scientific novelty consists in highlighting hybrid wars through the prism of asymmetric actions. It was proved that in hybrid war the use of asymmetric actions is widespread, that allows to eliminate the advantage of the enemy in the armed struggle. An essential feature of hybrid war is not only the factual asymmetry of the adversaries' military potentials and the asymmetry of actions, but also the nature of the international legal status of the conflict subjects. It is important to note that one of the most important aspects of the transformation of armed violence is a significant actualization of the asymmetric component.