SOC 327 The Changing Face of War
The emerging international scenario is characterized by a change in the nature of war as hybrid conflicts combining conventional warfare, terrorism, violent mass protests and organized crime are more frequent. This was the case with the Islamic State which mixed terrorism, guerrilla warfare and semi-conventional military operations during its expansion in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Similarly, Mexican cartels have combined irregular warfare tactics with the use of corruption to expand their criminal empires. Even the Russian aggression against Ukraine, often considered as the return to the traditional paradigm of conventional warfare, has merged conventional military operations, guerrilla warfare, sabotage and disinformation. This course is aimed at analyzing the different faces of hybrid war, the actors involved in this type of conflicts and their impact on international security.