The author writes: “Since 2014, Russian “hybrid warfare” has been at the center of attention of Western security analysts. The Kremlin’s reliance on proxies, disinformation, and measures short of war has created the impression that its hybrid capabilities are distinct and separate from its military and can serve as a substitute for hard power … Rather than a driver of Russian foreign policy, the Gerasimov doctrine is an effort to develop an operational concept for Russia’s confrontation with the West in support of the actual doctrine that has guided Russian policy … the Primakov doctrine … the Primakov doctrine … offers the following principles for Russian foreign policy:

• Russia should strive toward a multipolar world managed by a concert of major powers that can counterbalance U.S. unilateral power.
• Russia should insist on its primacy in the post-Soviet space and lead integration in that region.
• Russia should oppose NATO expansion.

The key question for the Kremlin is whether to push for greater capabilities and take additional risks in pursuit of a more ambitious set of global aspirations, or to continue to follow the Primakov doctrine and the careful practice of calculating the risks and benefits of a given course.”

Read the full article at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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