Episode 13: Granularity in the Grey Zone: Distinct Adversary Approaches to Sub-Threshold Competition

The two major outputs of Britain’s Integrated Review “Global Britain in a Competitive Age” and “Defence in a Competitive Age” paint a now familiar picture of the international landscape. The threats identified as facing the UK are well established. They are primarily a combination of Russia’s increasing encroachment on various European states and a more systemic global competition with China, alongside the continuing threat posed by non-state actors – both the “Dragons” and the “Snakes”.

Dr Alex Woolfson presents some of the findings from a recent paper which makes the case for a more granular view of the distinct competitive challenges posed by each type of actor. While Russia and China are involved in superficially similar strategies, understanding the differences between them is critical to devise an effective and persistent engagement against both . The nature of this distinction between the two matters a great deal, as the UK moves to construct more clearly-delineated strategic goals and doctrines for tackling China and Russia. The discussion, which is also joined by Simon Haselock, is chaired by Dr Sidharth Kaushal.