Populists delegitimise their competing parties and groups in a democracy by the persistent attack on mainstream media, mocking the academic community, and demeaning the scientific knowledge. The rise of majoritarian populist politics erodes the foundation of many democracies, and it polarises their societies, making these countries the easy target of hybrid warfare from the enemy forces. Populists claim to represent the people but use the rhetoric to deepen the societal division and do everything to advance a majority vs.
Populists work towards polarising the society and thrive by excluding the other. The world has witnessed a surge of right-wing populism in recent years. The polarisation process erodes core values of coexistence, social harmony, and trust in democratic institutions. The aim is to exploit the existing polarisation and exacerbate it further. Hybrid threats are often designed to the vulnerabilities of the targeted state. While the rival countries use hybrid wars in their attempts to divide society, the hybrid techniques of the enemy become successful and influential when the targeted society is already being polarised. Migrants’ and refugees’ issues get highlighted to catalyse ethnocultural polarisation. The population of rival countries is being targeted and using various types of platforms to exacerbate social dissatisfaction, inequalities, and anger. The adversaries can also use the financial and technological resources to influence the outcome of an election to favour their interests. The civilian population is the key focus in the hybrid wars, where disinformation campaigns have become the go-to strategy to exploit the sociopolitical vulnerabilities in the society of the rival country. An adversary can also carry out devastating cyberattacks targeting the civilian population, use remotely controlled drones to inflict damages to civilian infrastructures, and apply its financial influence to create liabilities. Not all hybrid wars are directly violent and engage proxy insurgents. On the other hand, proxy groups get financial, political, and military support from state actors to advance their agendas. This tactic helps the states to limit the military casualties, and it carries low political risks. The key attraction for the state actors to engage in a hybrid war against their enemies is hostile actions are largely non-attributable as they fight via proxy non-state actors. It has become almost impossible to differentiate the bilateral interactions, whether peace or conflict. The new wars in their hybrid forms have become diffusive, combining state and non-state actors. Hybrid threats are multifaceted, ranging from hacking to terrorism, from disinformation to migration.
Taking a hybrid form and combining both military and non-military methods, the more emphasis of warring countries is on civilian spaces in the new age wars. Wherever countries are fighting against each other, the conflicts rarely are fought between two rival armies on a battlefield. While the number of interstate wars has gone down, countries fighting civil wars within their territories have become more common. Social cohesion is key to promoting trust and creating an inclusive societyĪ country needs to insulate itself from populist politics if it expects to be secured from hybrid threats emanating from outside.