Andrew Borene
The first half of 2025 has underscored that global conflict no longer moves in isolation. Wars and crises bleed across domains, with drones and missiles paired with cyberattacks, and economic coercion reshaping alliances as much as tanks or troops. This convergence is accelerating, collapsing the old boundaries between traditional battlefields, digital networks, and supply chains.
The result is a security environment defined not by single crises, but by interlocking shocks that reinforce one another. Europe’s confrontation with Russia is hardening into a long-term standoff, sustained by both weapons and cyber campaigns. In the Middle East, Israel’s brief but devastating war with Iran showed how airstrikes and cyberattacks can unfold side by side, destabilizing both regional security and global markets. And across the Global South, an expanding BRICS+ bloc is challenging Western institutions while reshaping trade, technology, and digital infrastructure.
For policymakers, the lesson is clear: hybrid conflict is no longer a warning about the future. It is the operating reality of the present. Meeting it requires foresight, cross-domain coordination, and the ability to prepare leaders for an era in which the front lines are everywhere, from battlefields to boardrooms, from energy grids to financial systems.
Shifting Geopolitical Fault Lines
Europe’s confrontation with Russia is no longer measured only by the battlefield in Ukraine. Stalled ceasefire talks this year underscored the entrenched nature of the conflict, while the Baltic states’ decision to sever their power grids from Russia marked a symbolic and strategic break. Across the continent, governments are pouring more than €800 billion into defense under a “ReArm Europe” plan, with Germany pledging to make the Bundeswehr the strongest conventional force in Europe. At the same time, Russia has paired relentless aerial and drone strikes with cyber operations targeting Ukrainian infrastructure and European allies, ensuring the war is fought as much in power stations and networks as on the front lines. The consequence is a Europe settling into a posture of sustained confrontation, reshaping NATO cohesion, defense industries, and supply chains in ways that will reverberate for decades.
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