Nations Increasingly Grappling With Response to 'Gray-zone' Incidents by Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
When Russia took control of Crimea earlier this year, it didn’t just openly march its army into the Ukrainian territory.
Instead, it sent personnel in unmarked uniforms to take control of key facilities ahead of a referendum that led to annexation of the strategic peninsula.
Likewise, Chinese fishermen, not the People’s Liberation Army, instigated clashes with the Philippines over disputed islands in the South China Sea in 2012.
These sorts of incidents, along with cyber attacks, are in what’s called the “gray zone.” Eiichi Katahara, an academic at Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies, says such situations can’t be defined as either purely peacetime events or military contingencies and therefore create quandaries on how — or whether — to respond…