Hybrid Warfare, Meet Human Warfare

Putin's great innovation supposedly is that with his nukes he neutralizes America and the West, but on the ground he relies not only on boots but also on what has come to be known as hybrid warfare. He also hacks your phone. He brings down websites. There is massive information warfare. The West will not nuke you, but it will dollarize you, or so the thinking goes. 

What is missing in that talk is plain old human warfare. Urban warfare in the streets of Kyiv will undo Putin. The war started unpopular inside Russia. It will get more so with every passing day. More than 100,000 civilians inside Ukraine have already volunteered to pick up weapons. And they will get plenty of help from Poland. NATO has a full presence in Poland. 

There will be information warfare, but not to Putin's advantage. In the hearts and minds of the world, every sliced TikTok video will make the rounds and bring Putin down. This war is Putin's overreach. 

Putin has opened two fronts. The other front is China. Putin is not trying to become the dominant global power. He is trying to convince the world, including China, that Russia is still the number one power that challenges the US. China might disagree. China competes, but primarily economically. 

This war might finally bring democracy to Russia. Too bad the price will be paid by the people in Ukraine.