Publication

This alert assesses the hybrid tactics employed by terrorist groups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) such as the so-called Islamic States (ISIL). The author then explores how these tactics differ from those of state actors, particularly Russia, in other parts of the world. He contends that ISIL's governance capacity makes it an efficient military hybrid organization and stresses that to defeat it, the West will also need to adopt a hybrid approach, one that goes beyond air strikes and ground operations.