Members of the armed forces of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic drive a tank (Reuters)
Fiona Hill, Reuters: Hybrid war: The real reason fighting stopped in Ukraine – for now
President Vladimir Putin understands how insurgencies work better than any other Russian leader. We are watching this play out right now in Ukraine.
Before Putin took power, Moscow had long struggled to suppress rebel movements. In the 1980s, for example, the Soviet Union grappled with the Muslim mujahedeen in Afghanistan. Moscow propped up the beleaguered Kabul government with an invasion and occupation — to little avail. After 10 years of grueling conflict, Moscow withdrew, just as the Soviet Union fell apart. A few years later, rebels inflicted another serious blow against the Russian military, in the Russian province of Chechnya. Chechen militants launched attacks deep into Russia. The Kremlin again withdrew its forces and essentially sued for peace.
Until Putin took the helm.
WNU Editor: An interesting read on Russian military/hybrid strategy. I am speculating right now .... but I feel that it is a take on the hybrid strategy that the U.S. applied to the Taliban in Afghanistan right after 9/11. A few hundred CIA specialists and special forces, backed by money, weapons, and air support, were able to put together a coalition to topple the Taliban within two months. In eastern Ukraine .... same story. An alienated population deeply resentful of Kiev, backed by Russian volunteers, money, and weapons .... are able to defeat a far bigger army backed by the West within a few months.
WNU: Good point there with the comparison. I think this "hybrid" stategy is not a whole new thing, it has it's own roots, but surely they made it very effectively this time. But what exactly made this one work out well, and made for example the Syrian Revolution to be in such a bad situation? Hopefully there will be some long analyses on this subject after the war ended.
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