{"id":45938,"date":"2022-01-04T21:04:23","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T21:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/01\/04\/why-the-us-should-fight-russia-china-in-the-gray-zone\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:07:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:07:35","slug":"why-the-us-should-fight-russia-china-in-the-gray-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/01\/04\/why-the-us-should-fight-russia-china-in-the-gray-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the US should fight Russia, China in the \u2018gray zone\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 China has achieved a military buildup in the South China Sea<\/a>, stole billions of dollars worth of American intellectual property<\/a> and is launching ongoing cyberattacks<\/a>, while Russia interfered<\/a> in U.S. elections, used masked \u201clittle green men<\/a>\u201d in Ukraine, and actively promotes mis- and disinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it\u2019s Washington\u2019s turn to get serious about the \u201cgray zone,\u201d especially when it comes to cyber and information warfare, says a new report<\/a> from the Atlantic Council. The term is used to describe competitive actions that occur below the threshold of conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The think tank\u2019s recommendations come as the Biden administration finishes its National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy, which are expected to be published within weeks and address gray-zone or hybrid warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe DoD needs to compete now and engage in offensive hybrid warfare actions. The United States must respond where competition with China and Russia is taking place today, primarily by playing an enhanced role in gray-zone competition,\u201d read the report, which was led by the Atlantic Council\u2019s Clementine Starling, Air Force Lt. Col. Tyson Wetzel and Christian Trotti \u2015 with former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report called for new strategic competition coordinators on the National Security Council with direct access to the president, as well as a new whole-of-government messaging strategy aimed at countering anti-American narratives and reinforcing the rules-based international order. The Pentagon would play a supporting role, \u201cexecuting offensive and defensive hybrid warfare activities that comport with U.S. values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already, Colin Kahl<\/a>, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said last month that the Defense Department\u2019s overarching \u201cintegrated deterrence\u201d concept \u2015 a key part of the forthcoming National Defense Strategy \u2015 expands \u201cacross the spectrum of conflict from high-intensity warfare to the gray zone.\u201d That includes other instruments of national power: intelligence, economic, financial, technological and alliances, Kahl has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That mission is going to become more important as nations hostile to U.S. interests increasingly operate below the threshold of traditional conflict to challenge international rules and norms, particularly at flashpoints in the Taiwan Strait and Ukraine, the authors argued. The DoD has taken significant steps to compete in the gray zone, but the authors called for \u201ca departmental paradigm shift\u201d and for the military to go on the offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe department has begun to focus more on countering our strategic competitors\u2019 hybrid warfare efforts, but what I also see is an inherent conflict between competing now and the sexier thing, which is buying new equipment, getting ready to fight the war of the future; and sometimes, under the weight of that effort, competing today loses out a little bit,\u201d Wetzel, who is also a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody agrees we need to defend in the gray zone, but we really wanted to focus on the fact that we can take the offense as well,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, as Russian President Vladimir Putin masses troops along Ukraine\u2019s border and claims Ukraine and the West are the aggressors, the U.S. government \u2015 under a more proactive approach to gray zone warfare \u2015 would communicate more consistently and more often that Putin is the sole antagonist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust on the information domain, we need to control the narrative, we need to counter false narratives a lot clearer,\u201d Wetzel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Ukrainian female soldier takes a rest near a fighting position on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec 30, 2021. (Andriy Dubchak\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The broader Atlantic Council report, drafted with expert input over the last year, made recommendations aimed at deterring or winning a conventional conflict as well as gray zone activities. Among the report\u2019s other conclusions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n