Book Launch- Living Under Hybrid War

Islamabad, December 12, 2022 – NUST Institute of Policy Studies (NIPS), Islamabad, held the launch ceremony for the book, “Living Under Hybrid War,” edited by NUST academics, Dr. Ashfaque Hasan Khan and Dr. Farah Naz, on Monday, December 12, 2022. The launch was attended by senior foreign diplomats, veteran statesmen, think tank experts, seasoned analysts, researchers, and students. Notable for his presence among the audience was the Russian Ambassador to Pakistan.
In his opening remarks, Director NIPS, Mr. Amir Yaqub, paid his compliments to the editors and contributors for a fine, relevant, and holistic volume on a topic of strategic significance.
Dr. Ashfaque Hasan Khan, Principal NUST School of Social Sciences and Humanities (S3H) and DG NIPS, stated, while introducing the book, that it was an outcome of an intensive and a thorough study of numerous instruments, tools, and strategies of contemporary hybrid warfare by a diverse collective of experts. He commended various domain experts who had authored different chapters in the book, covering the nature of hybrid war, economic coercion, domestic politics, internal destabilization, narrative warfare, and lawfare as different hybrid warfare tactics, thus making the edited volume a comprehensive publication on hybrid warfare.
Dr. Farah Naz, Assistant Professor at the Department of Government and Public Policy, NUST, highlighted that, in the digital age, narratives play an important role in shaping the focus of the world toward any given issue. She said that effectively countering hybrid warfare requires that Pakistan built a strong, multidimensional narrative and created innovative channels for the broad-based public participation and engagement in the proposed national narrative to be owned by the people as a whole
One of the contributors, Dr. Leonid Savin, a leading Russian political thinker and Editor-in-chief of Geopolitica.ru, congratulated everyone associated with the book. Dr. Savin highlighted that different chapters in the book have elaborated hybrid warfare through different lens, such as psychological influence, cyberspace, and the activities of the international financial institutions against nation-states. Dr. Savin further remarked that progressively improving bilateral relations between Russia and Pakistan was a good sign and it could be hoped that there will be further collaboration in the future.
Former Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Zubair Mahmood Hayat NI(M) (Retd), the ceremony’s Guest of Honor, appreciated the editors and contributors for their high-quality work. He mentioned that, owing to Pakistan’s geostrategic location, it remains embroiled in hybrid war consisting of centrifugal political narratives, security risks, and economic dependency. He further added that, in the past, debt traps, the exploitation of societal fault lines, terrorism, and extremism have been deployed against Pakistan. However, he concluded that Pakistan is a country with immense potential and resilience, which, with a strong narrative and the awareness of the existing challenges, will be able to emerge successfully and triumphantly from this hybrid war.