12 Anonymous cyber-attacks, subversive online campaigns, and the destruction of critical infrastructure for which no country can be definitively blamed: Welcome to hybrid warfare, a relatively new, dangerously ambiguous, and highly effective collection of threats. Indeed, while this form of warfare almost never involves someone opening fire with a weapon, responding requires no less assessment, information, and training—and arguably, in the future, even more. To help countries understand the phenomenon and prepare their counter offense, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) Director Dr. Eitan Shamir and Research FellowDr. Shay Attias joined the EU’s Erasmus+ Hybrid War Project at the Romanian Military Academy in Sibiu last fall. The result of a major grant from the European Union’s Erasmus+ project to conduct research on hybridwarfare, the BESA researchers and their six European partners presented recommendations for decision-makers, military leaders, and diplomats tasked with addressing non-conventional challenges to states’ security. Ultimately, the project aims to provide lectures and produce a definitive textbook for use by institutions of higher education, military academies, police forces, and civil service leaders. Research for the HybridWar Project is part of BESA’s program of renewal, which last year included establishing a new academic board, led by Rector Prof. Amnon Albeck, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences Prof. Gil Epstein, and Head of the Department of Political Studies Prof. Jonathan Rynhold; recruiting new staff members and researchers whowill expand the center’s fields of expertise; upgrading the center’s website and its social-media presence; and reviving the distribution of “Perspectives,” email digests containing short expert analyses. Together, explains Shamir, these changes “will enhance BESA’s standing as a leading source of analysis and expertise related to Israel’s national security and foreign policy, and directed toward regional peace and stability.” Winning a Hybrid War The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies 1. The School of Applied Military Studies, University of Torino and the Italian Army Education and Training Command, Torino, Italy 2. University of Public Service – Ludovika, Budapest, Hungary 3. BESA Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel 4. The Nicolae Balcescu Land Forces Military Academy, Sibiu, Romania 5. Centre for the Study of New Security Challenges, Galashiels, Scotland 6. TheArmed Forces Academy of GeneralMilanRastislav Štefánik, Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia Worthy Allies: Partners in theHybridWar Project Image generated by AI
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