What is grey zone warfare, mentioned by India’s Chief of Defence Staff recently

• On the last day of the 2024 Raisina Dialogue, India’s Chief of Defence Staff said that “grey zone warfare” is the latest in informal warfare.

Gray zone warfare

• Grey zone warfare generally means a middle, unclear space that exists between direct conflict and peace in international relations.
• Multitude of activities fall into this zone — from nefarious economic activities, influence operations, and cyberattacks to mercenary operations, assassinations, and disinformation campaigns.
• Activities in the grey zone have always been a feature of great-power competition.
• Proxy wars, destabilizing insurgencies, legal warfare (lawfare), and information warfare—by adversaries and allies alike—have been a feature of this conflict.
• Experts claim that such methods are often employed by parties who have not had access to massive resources or power, traditionally.
• Therefore, such tactics can help gain an advantage over a more technically well-equipped adversary that is more used to conventional warfare.

The beginning

• Experts believe the Cold War era, which began after the end of the Second World War in 1945, led to conditions that favoured grey zone warfare.
• Amid the US-USSR rivalry for ideological and economic dominance, the knowledge that both parties were armed with nuclear weapons meant direct conflicts had to be restrained.
• In today's nuclear age, the price of traditional wars has become too high, and the danger of things getting worse is very serious.
• Because of this, countries are trying to achieve their goals by being aggressive in secret or by hiding.

What grey zone warfare looks like?

• Experts from the US and Europe have characterized certain Russian and Chinese actions of late as examples of gray zone warfare.
• It includes the Chinese military’s presence in the South China Sea.
• The Philippines is one of the countries which has challenged China’s claims, extending over around 80 per cent of the region.
• In December 2023, it termed the presence of more than 135 Chinese maritime militia vessels near a disputed reef as illegal.
• It accused China of firing water cannons at its boats and ramming into others, while the Chinese coast guard blamed the Philippines for hitting Chinese boats.
• A recent Reuters report mentioned that Taiwan has been expressing concerns for the past four years about increased military actions by China.
• This includes Chinese fighter jets flying over the strait regularly.
• It is part of China's strategy to pressure Taiwan with activities that fall just short of starting a full-scale conflict.
• Analysts claim that the US has also engaged in similar tactics.
• These include its economic sanctions against China and imposition of duties on Chinese imports to the US, along with maritime reconnaissance.

Prelims Takeaway

• Cold war
• WW II