Reflecting on One Year of War

The Role of Non-Military Levers

Clara Le Gargasson, James Black

ResearchPosted on rand.org Mar 28, 2023Published in: Center for Maritime Strategy website (2023)

In December 2021, with Russian troops massed on Ukraine's borders, President Biden ruled out sending U.S. forces to defend Ukraine. A year after the invasion, direct military engagement between NATO and Russia remains out-of-bounds. Despite this, the West finds itself in indirect conflict with Russia, backing Ukraine with weapons, intelligence, training, and an unprecedented package of sanctions against Moscow.

The pressing question is: what kind of conflict? To understand this, and how its dynamics may evolve, it is important to understand concepts such as "sub-threshold" and "gray zone" competition; to be able to identify the main military and non-military levers in use; and to explore how these are being employed by the West and Russia one year on.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: Center for Maritime Strategy
  • Availability: Non-RAND
  • Year: 2023
  • Pages: 1
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/pubs
  • Document Number: EP-69180

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