Societal consequences of modern hybrid warfare: theoretical foundations and institutional dimension

Abstract

The article reveals the concept of societal in the political-economic discourse, and shows its connection with the relevant philosophical and sociological vision. It is argued that the current Russian-Ukrainian war has clear signs of a modern hybrid war, which is generated by the global-local hybrid system of "peace – war" and combines a whole range of means, from military-political and economic to cybernetic and cultural and humanitarian ones. Based on the combination of political-economic and sociological discourses in a broad sense, it is substantiated that the main components of the hybrid system "peace – war" from the point of view of the transformation of social relations are: armed-military, financial-economic, and informational-spiritual components, which cause a comprehensive impact on people’s worldview, positioning and behavior, which leads to significant societal consequences. The authors give various characteristics of the institutional dimension of the war’s societal consequences. Theoretically, the phenomenon of emergent institutional order is taken as the basis for considering the institutional dimension of the societal consequences caused by the hybrid war. It is revealed that in the martial law conditions, the role of the trust institution is growing (the trust institution is considered as a defining and integral construct of the socio-economic system’s institutional architecture, embodied both in trust in the state and power structures, and in trust in new institutions created by the hybrid war (volunteers and various forms of amateur civil movements)). The authors show that in the context of societal development in the conditions of war shocks and post-war recovery of Ukraine, the quality of institutions and the state’s institutional potential play an extremely important role. Analysis of the societal consequences of the Russian Federation’s invasion in Ukraine in the institutional dimension shows the need to overcome the key institutional destructions generated both in the previous period and during the war. Also, it is necessary to create an institutional basis for a new economic model focused on ensuring a combination of Ukrainian effective reconstructive recovery in the post-war period and its full integration into the European Union and the world space.