On Qualification of the Phenomenon of Hybridism of the Use of Force and the Problem of Interference in Internal Affairs of a State

The purpose of this article is to eliminate methodological discrepancies in the definition of the problem of “hybrid” use of force and the possibility of using this construct when interfering in the internal affairs of states. In any conflict situation, the behavior of states in moving towards their national goals can be explained through how they do combine and synchronize (as it is often defined at the present time — «hybrid») the use of means of compellence and coercion available to them. In general, conceptually «hybrid war» can be described as “the synchronized use of multiple instruments of national power, specially selected to obtain mutually reinforcing effects on specific vulnerabilities across the entire spectrum of social processes. The substance of the modern security environment has led to an increase in the number of areas of conflict of interests of actors, the complexity and dynamism of conflicts, and the unpredictability of their outcomes. The formation of the practice of attribution of international responsibility, and the development of the international institutions supporting it, took place gradually and, ultimately, led to such a development of the international security environment, which made an appeal to «hybridity» to promote national interests in the process of political competition of social groups or individuals with divergent interests for power inevitable. The problem of terminology is one of the main obstacles to a clear understanding of the operation of the «hybridity» construct in political competition. The active use of the definition «hybrid» by propaganda in combination with the terms «war», «threats», «hostilities in the gray zone», «operations», «tactics», «competition does not turn into a state of war» political discourse, since these terms are almost never linked to the definition of the desired state of international relations by the state leadership. And if we are talking about the outcome of the collision of interests of actors in competition or conflict, then this desired result is «historically» defined by the term «victory». Thus, the definition of the substance of «victory» is a necessary initial point to onset analyzing the possibilities of turning to any of the instruments of national power in a «hybrid» confrontation.

Conflict as a Problem and Threat to National and International Security

The beginning of the 21st century is characterized by a deep crisis of the national and international security system. For many factors caused by the intensification of military-political conflicts of a new type, the term “hybrid war” is now used. A feature of these conflicts is, in the first place, the use by the opponents of a wide scale of non-military means of influence: economic, informational, environmental, social, political and others. It is important here to justify the importance of the transformation of the state system of civil protection, which is being developed under the influence of contemporary military and political conflicts. The problem of military-political rivalry, by defining the content of the term “military-political conflict”, leads to a confrontation of political entities both within the state and at the state level, as well as between states, aimed at achieving their own political interests using various means and ways of influencing the political, military, economic, social and information spheres. The purpose of this speech is to present the mechanisms of solving all existing problems related to the functioning of society and to present the forms and features of contemporary hybrid conflicts.

Cultural Security of Ukraine

Condition and problems of ensuring the cultural security of Ukraine were analyzed. Hypothesis that ensuring development and sustainability of the cultural sphere, formation of a single Ukrainian socio-cultural space based on Ukrainian language, historical memory, spiritual values, cultural traditions is one of priority national interests of the Ukrainian state at the present stage was put forward. Research methodology is based on the principles of objectivity and systematicity. During the research, methods of scientific learning of socio-political phenomena and processes were used, in particular: analysis, synthesis, systematization, empirical, and system-structural methods. The authors prove that cultural traditions, historical memory, self-consciousness and language are key factors that constitute and consolidate a nation, and threats to the nation’s cultural interests can jeopardize its existence. It was found that the centuries-old policy of de-ethnicization and assimilation of Ukrainian ethnos by foreign states has led to deformation and russification of the national linguistic and cultural space of Ukraine, loss of ethnic identity based on the language factor of the titular Ukrainian ethnos, deepening the spiritual crisis of Ukrainian society. It is determined that the key threats in the field of cultural security of Ukraine today are the following: Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine, formation of information and cultural space of Ukraine under the influence of foreign information flows, imperfection of humanitarian policy in the context of cultivating Ukrainian national values, low level of development of cultural industries, dominance of foreign cultural and artistic products, control over Ukrainian media by financial and industrial groups that often take an anti-Ukrainian position. It was proved that the measures to assert and popularize Ukrainian language as the state language, ensure intercultural communication and interethnic socialization of ethnic subjects of Ukrainian society, formation of national-patriotic education, creation of competitive innovative cultural products and their popularization in the world should be priority directions of the state policy of ensuring cultural security of Ukraine.

Unexpected Crossroads of International Political Communication: Influence and Insights of Universal Codes of Media as Exemplified by Podcasts, Comics and New Media

The article dwells upon the original research conducted by author during and after his PhD studies. Through the case studies of media (exemplifying podcasts, comic books and unclassifiable new media such as web-series) directly influencing and/or vice versa being influenced directly by current political events, shown is the interconnecting tissue of universal codes of media, affecting the international political communication through media influence in unpredictable ways. Underlined is the crucial need to strengthen the awareness of experts and general population alike of such processes in Ukraine due to hybrid war occurring with Russian Federation.

Decentralized Security Systems in Hybrid War Conditions with an Emphasis on the Security System in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Combining all hitherto known forms and methods of conventional and unconventional warfare, hybrid warfare is increasingly replacing classical military conflicts and is gradually changing into the primary form of realizing state interests, independently or within military-political alliances. No period in the history of human civilization has been marked by such an intensity of war conflicts as the last century. Apart from the two largest war conflicts in history, in which almost all countries of the world were involved, the last century was also marked by the Cold War.

The aspects of dehumanization in the condition of hybrid war: on the example of attitudes the citizens of Ukraine to Russian soldiers – participants of the Russian-Ukrainian war

The article examines the features of dehumanization of Russian soldiers participating in the Russian-Ukrainian war in the perception of different groups of the population. Dehumanization is seen as a mechanism for denying human characteristics to individuals or groups of people, helping to justify violence, which is a necessary attribute of war. Against the background of the long Russian-Ukrainian war, it was possible to predict that the citizens of Ukraine would have blatant dehumanization of the enemy. However, one of the features of the hybrid war and in particular the information component in it is the blurring and weak personification of the image of the enemy, which is often labeled as an invading state. The aim of the article was to find out whether and how the mechanism of dehumanization works in these conditions. Achieving the goal required a clear personification of the object of dehumanization. The Russian military was chosen as such as the direct participants in the conflict, representing the attacking state. A qualitative method of pseudo-experimental research and in-depth interviews were chosen to identify the level and form of dehumanization. The experimental group was made up of internally displaced persons from the East, who represented the category of the population most affected by the actions of the Russian military due to the destruction of their homes, the loss of relatives or friends, and so on. The reference group was formed of people who were not directly injured during the war. To analyze the dehumanization of the Russian military, a scale of dehumanization has been developed, with blatant dehumanization at one extreme and subtle unconscious dehumanization at the other. It turned out that both in the experimental and in the reference group there was almost no blatant dehumanization, which may be due to the peculiarities of hybrid warfare, in particular the blurring of ideas about how the war is fought and who the enemy is. Instead, subtle forms of dehumanization, such as robotization and heroism, prevailed, confirming the influence of propaganda, which is one of the most important components of hybrid warfare. At the same time, in both groups, after the intervention, there was a shift from subtle forms of dehumanization to more blatant.

National interests of the state and the possibility of restricting the right to freedom of speech: the question of correlation

The article examines the possibility of restricting the right to freedom of speech in order to protect the national interests of the state. An analysis of normative legal acts prohibiting the dissemination of destructive information, such as calls for a violent change in the constitutional order of Ukraine, the outbreak of aggressive war, incitement to national, racial or religious hatred, etc. The right to freedom of expression is not absolute and may be limited. The article substantiates the criteria for state intervention in the information sphere, which allow limiting the dissemination of destructive information and preserving democratic values. Such criteria include the legality of the procedure, the legality of the purpose and the minimum amount of intervention. The article considers the existing mechanisms in Ukraine to respond to harmful informational influences. The law provides for liability for disseminating false information at several levels: civil, administrative and criminal. At the same time, these mechanisms are insufficient, as the concepts of «misinformation», «fake», etc. are not normatively defined. The article describes the state policy to combat destructive information influence. The bases of activity of state bodies created for the purpose of counteraction to dissemination of misinformation and propaganda are considered, namely the Center of counteraction of misinformation at Council of National Security and Defense of Ukraine and the Center of Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. The strategies of the state on counteraction to harmful information influence are analyzed. The Doctrine of Information Security of Ukraine is considered, which clarifies the basics of the state information policy in the direction of counteracting the destructive information influence of the Russian Federation in the conditions of the hybrid war unleashed by it. The main provisions of the Information Security Strategy, which defines the general principles of information security, are also considered. The strategies of the state on counteraction to harmful information influence are analyzed. The Doctrine of Information Security of Ukraine is considered, which clarifies the basics of the state information policy in the direction of counteracting the destructive information influence of the Russian Federation in the conditions of the hybrid war unleashed by it. The main provisions of the Information Security Strategy, which defines the general principles of information security, are also considered.

Białoruskie i rosyjskie działania dezinformacyjne wobec Polski w kontekście antyreżimowych protestów przeciwko Alaksandrowi Łukaszence

Since August 2020, the political situation in Belarus has become one of the key elements of Russia’s information warfare against the transatlantic community. The main target of Belarusian and Russian information and psychological operations is Poland, repeatedly accused of interfering in the internal affairs of Belarus, inspiring a colour revolution, waging a hybrid war, supporting separatism, historical revisionism, preparation of military intervention or organising an armed coup and assassination of Lukashenko. The main research problem of this article is the answer to the question: what disinformation activities are Belarus and Russia conducting against Poland in connection with the political situation in Belarus after the falsification of the results of the presidential elections of 9 August 2020. The author analyses, among others, why Poland has become the main target of Belarusian and Russian disinformation operations, what the goals are of these activities, on what issues the Belarusian and Russian information narrative towards Poland is focused, and what the effectiveness is of these influence operations.