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Cornerstone of its Asymmetric Way of War
Since the creation of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iran has distinguished itself (along with Russia and China) as one of the world's foremost "gray zone" actors.1 For nearly four decades, however, the United States has struggled to respond effectively to this asymmetric "way of war." Washington has often treated Tehran with caution and granted it significant leeway in the conduct of its gray zone activities due to fears that U.S. pushback would lead to "all-out" war-fears that the Islamic Republic actively encourages. Yet, the very purpose of this modus operandi is to enable Iran to pursue its interests and advance its anti-status quo agenda while avoiding escalation that could lead to a wider conflict. Because of the potentially high costs of war-especially in a proliferated world-gray zone conflicts are likely to become increasingly common in the years to come. For this reason, it is more important than ever for the United States to understand the logic underpinning these types of activities, in all their manifestations.
Gray Zone, Asymmetric, and Hybrid "Ways of War" in Iran's Strategy
Gray zone warfare, asymmetric warfare, and hybrid warfare are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they refer neither to discrete forms of warfare, nor should they be used interchangeably-as they often (incorrectly) are. Rather, these terms refer to that aspect of strategy that concerns how states employ ways and means to achieve national security policy ends.2 Means refer to the diplomatic, informational, military, economic, and cyber instruments of national power; ways describe how these means are employed to achieve the ends of strategy. The terms gray zone, asymmetric, and hybrid thus refer to the "ways of war"-how these instruments are used-though the term hybrid has a dual character and also refers to means. (For a graphic depiction of how these concepts apply to Iran's strategy, see figure 1 below.)
Nearly all state actors (including the United States) engage in gray zone activities, leverage asymmetries, and are hybrid actors, at least to some extent. Many states operate in the gray zone, at least occasionally, to manage risk, limit escalation, and avoid war. All states employ asymmetries to gain advantage and achieve disproportionate effects. And nearly all states create hybrid organizational...