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Covert Operations and Gray Zone Conflict

The Threat to U.S. National Security

Armin Krishnan

Gray zone conflict is a term that has been introduced by American strategists to describe the new reality of international conflict below the threshold of war and violence. The book aims to provide a broad overview of the covert and overt ambiguous measures hostile actors use to weaken the U.S. and the West more generally, including gray propaganda, disinformation, covert political influencing, foreign media operations, cultural influence, migration, financial destabilization, the use of protest movements, and even covert attacks using proxies and high-tech weaponry. The main argument is that these efforts of covert destabilization have historical precedents and that the Cold War provides a suitable paradigm for understanding and analyzing the current threats. The book relies on historical examples to illustrate how techniques have been used in the past and links them to practices and techniques used by U.S. adversaries today. The final chapter of the book lays out strategy options for preventing, deterring, and mitigating covert and ambiguous attacks on the U.S. by foreign powers.

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  • Author
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  • Features
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Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 286 • Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-5381-6113-5 • Hardback • September 2026 • $115.00 • (£88.00)
978-1-5381-6114-2 • eBook • September 2026 • $45.00 • (£35.00) (coming soon)
Series: Weapons of Mass Destruction and Emerging Technologies
Subjects: Political Science / Security (National & International), Political Science / International Relations / Diplomacy, Political Science / Terrorism

Armin Krishnan is an Associate Professor and the Director of Security Studies at East Carolina University. He has received his MA in Political Science from the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich and his MA in Intelligence and International Relations and PhD in Security Studies from Salford University in the UK. Krishnan previously taught in the Intelligence and National Security Studies program at the University of Texas at El Paso. He is the author of five books and many journal articles on novel aspects of contemporary warfare and international security, including military outsourcing, autonomous weapons systems, targeted killings, neurowarfare, and paramilitary operations. At ECU he teaches courses on intelligence, foreign policy, weapons of mass destruction, and national security.

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

1. Introduction

2. The Strategic Debate

3. Covert Influence Operations

4. Violent Covert Measures

5. Gray Zone Conflict

6. Covert Attacks

7. Major Political Destabilization

8. Options for Defense

9. Conclusion: Are We in a New Cold War?

Bibliography

About the Author

Index

    • The book provides a broad overview of the theories and practices associated with conflict short of war and covert operations.
    • The book explores the full spectrum of ambiguous and covert measures that are used to destabilize countries, instead of focusing on only one specific aspect such as propaganda, covert influence, political warfare, or cyber warfare.
    • The book clearly connects current techniques of influence and destabilization to Cold War precedents.
    • The book covers hostile activities and practices short of war of both Russia and China (and to a lesser extent of Iran and others).
    • The book includes a discussion of novel techniques such as cyber warfare and exotic high-tech weaponry (DEW, space- and weather warfare) in the context of covert destabilization.
    • The book tries to apply the lessons of the Cold War and suggests potential solutions for countering covert and ambiguous measures designed to weaken the U.S. over time.
    • The book discusses COVID-19 as a potential act of economic warfare against the United States.



Covert Operations and Gray Zone Conflict

The Threat to U.S. National Security

Cover Image
Hardback
Summary
Summary
  • Gray zone conflict is a term that has been introduced by American strategists to describe the new reality of international conflict below the threshold of war and violence. The book aims to provide a broad overview of the covert and overt ambiguous measures hostile actors use to weaken the U.S. and the West more generally, including gray propaganda, disinformation, covert political influencing, foreign media operations, cultural influence, migration, financial destabilization, the use of protest movements, and even covert attacks using proxies and high-tech weaponry. The main argument is that these efforts of covert destabilization have historical precedents and that the Cold War provides a suitable paradigm for understanding and analyzing the current threats. The book relies on historical examples to illustrate how techniques have been used in the past and links them to practices and techniques used by U.S. adversaries today. The final chapter of the book lays out strategy options for preventing, deterring, and mitigating covert and ambiguous attacks on the U.S. by foreign powers.

Details
Details
  • Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
    Pages: 286 • Trim: 6 x 9
    978-1-5381-6113-5 • Hardback • September 2026 • $115.00 • (£88.00)
    978-1-5381-6114-2 • eBook • September 2026 • $45.00 • (£35.00) (coming soon)
    Series: Weapons of Mass Destruction and Emerging Technologies
    Subjects: Political Science / Security (National & International), Political Science / International Relations / Diplomacy, Political Science / Terrorism
Author
Author
  • Armin Krishnan is an Associate Professor and the Director of Security Studies at East Carolina University. He has received his MA in Political Science from the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich and his MA in Intelligence and International Relations and PhD in Security Studies from Salford University in the UK. Krishnan previously taught in the Intelligence and National Security Studies program at the University of Texas at El Paso. He is the author of five books and many journal articles on novel aspects of contemporary warfare and international security, including military outsourcing, autonomous weapons systems, targeted killings, neurowarfare, and paramilitary operations. At ECU he teaches courses on intelligence, foreign policy, weapons of mass destruction, and national security.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Acknowledgments

    List of Abbreviations

    1. Introduction

    2. The Strategic Debate

    3. Covert Influence Operations

    4. Violent Covert Measures

    5. Gray Zone Conflict

    6. Covert Attacks

    7. Major Political Destabilization

    8. Options for Defense

    9. Conclusion: Are We in a New Cold War?

    Bibliography

    About the Author

    Index

Features
Features
      • The book provides a broad overview of the theories and practices associated with conflict short of war and covert operations.
      • The book explores the full spectrum of ambiguous and covert measures that are used to destabilize countries, instead of focusing on only one specific aspect such as propaganda, covert influence, political warfare, or cyber warfare.
      • The book clearly connects current techniques of influence and destabilization to Cold War precedents.
      • The book covers hostile activities and practices short of war of both Russia and China (and to a lesser extent of Iran and others).
      • The book includes a discussion of novel techniques such as cyber warfare and exotic high-tech weaponry (DEW, space- and weather warfare) in the context of covert destabilization.
      • The book tries to apply the lessons of the Cold War and suggests potential solutions for countering covert and ambiguous measures designed to weaken the U.S. over time.
      • The book discusses COVID-19 as a potential act of economic warfare against the United States.



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