Is Hybrid Warfare Changing due to Climate Change?

The terms “hybrid warfare” and “climate change” have recently become very popular. Even if they are popular individually, however, the two terms have rarely been linked. With only a few exceptions, no academic works analyse the possible connections between the two phenomena. This article thus examines the extent to which hybrid warfare changes due to climate change.

It argues that climate change can exacerbate already ongoing armed conflicts of a hybrid nature; climate change can also increase the risk of new such conflicts because it accelerates the development and adoption of doctrinal changes and technological innovations related to the conduct of hybrid wars. Thus, security analysts must consider climate change when researching hybrid warfare. This article aims to support their efforts by laying the foundations of a broader discussion on hybrid warfare in the context of climate change, outlining the key issues that future research should consider.