What are our Adversaries trying to achieve in the Gray Zone?

3 hours ago 3

Posted: January 15th, 2025

By Dave Pitts

Pitts is a senior national security executive with over four decades of experience ranging from counterterrorism and special operations to regional and global affairs. Pitts served as the Assistant Director of CIA for South and Central Asia and was responsible for all CIA activities and engagement across South and Central Asia and for policy coordination in Washington.

This is part 2 of a 3-part series by Cipher Brief Expert and former Assistant Director of CIA for South and Central Asia Dave Pitts, who also serves as a member of The Cipher Brief’s new Gray Zone Group.

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Even with a broad understanding of the gray zone, it can be difficult to put into strategic perspective the gray zone activities we see. The tools of the gray zone are diverse and evolving: cognitive warfare; cyber operations; use of surrogates, proxies, and ambiguous forces; aggressive espionage; political and economic coercion; and darker tools such as sabotage and assassinations come to the top of the list, but there are others.

Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Read Entire Article