Hybrid Warfare and the Presidential Race

first things first, what is hybrid warfare? It’s a form of aggression by a nation-state on another that is an open attack but stays under the threshold of open warfare. It has a few other benefits. It weakens the target, and it is under the threshold of actual military action. It is cheaper, and it fulfills strategic goals, without the cost of blood, and the cost of treasure is far lower than open warfare. Why nations like Russia and China have done this for at least two decades. After all, how do you take on nuclear power without getting hit back? This is the perfect way

One of the ways Russia has pursued this war is by effectively participating in elections in the west, the United States in particular. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams in 2016 and are coming for try two. They know the Trump administration will not try to stop them. After all, the President has been calling it a hoax from the moment he learned of it. Why? In his mind, it delegitimized his victory in 2016. He is partially correct, but his narcissism does not understand how this is an attack on the system itself.

Senator Bernie Sanders was briefed on this a month ago. The Washington Post reported on this. And to be honest, the reaction among some Sanders fans was predictable. Yes, they are paranoid, but the Democratic National Committee is out to get them. In effect, both are playing onto Russian machinations. The ultimate goal is to completely delegitimize American democracy.