Weaponizing Civilians: Disrupting Strategic Mobility and Logistics

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60162694%3AG38__%2F26%3A00565928" target="_blank" >RIV/60162694:G38__/26:00565928 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://connections-qj.org/article/weaponizing-civilians-disrupting-strategic-mobility-and-logistics" target="_blank" >https://connections-qj.org/article/weaponizing-civilians-disrupting-strategic-mobility-and-logistics</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.11610/Connections.23.3.07" target="_blank" >10.11610/Connections.23.3.07</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Weaponizing Civilians: Disrupting Strategic Mobility and Logistics

Original language description

Strategic movement of forces and their sustainment often de-pend on civilian infrastructure (ports, airports, railways, and road net-works). During developing crises, potential adversaries could exploit seams between military and civilian authorities and use civilians to restrict, delay, or completely prevent the movement of forces and disrupt supply chains. This can be achieved indirectly, by exploiting the information environment, or directly, for instance, by inserting agitators into crowds. Many civilians, especially vulnerable groups, appear susceptible to disinformation and ma-nipulation, creating opportunities for adversaries to use them in pursuit of specific interests. However, civilians’ legal rights and entitlements, partic-ularly those enshrined under international humanitarian law, impose re-strictions on Western militaries in coping with such situations. From NATO’s perspective, this could further encourage adversaries to exploit these approaches. The article provides several case studies from different countries where civilians have disrupted military power projection. It then outlines seven hypothetical scenarios in which adversaries exploit civilians to counter the logistics and mobility of military forces. The methodological framework for developing plausible future scenarios involves drawing on past events while also leveraging creativity in future considerations, including techno-logical advances combined with human inventiveness. This approach ena-bled the authors to consider possible future developments and threats in terms of weaponizing civilians to contest military mobility. The findings presented in this article provide incentives for testing military resilience in wargame scenarios and exercises simulating disruptions to strategic mo-bility and logistics.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_SC - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the SCOPUS database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

50600 - Political science

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Connections: The Quarterly Journal

ISSN

1812-1098

e-ISSN

1812-2973

Volume of the periodical

23

Issue of the periodical within the volume

3

Country of publishing house

DE - GERMANY

Number of pages

22

Pages from-to

123-144

UT code for WoS article

—

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105021923251