'You can change govt decisions by changing public opinion': CDS Gen Chauhan on new hybrid warfare

In the present world where warfare is evolving fast, you don’t need to fight wars to dictate governments’ actions, but can do so by changing the public opinion, said Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan.

At a session on hybrid warfare at Raisina Dialogue 2025 organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Chauhan explained that modern warfare has not not only converged various domains, such as the land, maritime, air, and cyberspace, but has moved from physical geogrphies to cognitive geographies.

“When wars were just physical, physical geography was important. When wars became hybrid, the human geography became important. Today, I think cognitive geography of the society is becoming equally important. You have to find out where the society gets its information from, what influences it, and how they see it. After all, all democratic governments are hostage to public opinion. If public opinion can be changed, you can change government decisions without resorting to violence. That’s how warfare is evolving,” said Chauhan.

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Discussing the way technology has changed warfare, General (Retired) David Petraeus, a former US Central Commander and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), said that Ukraine has emerged as a world leader in military technology. He said that the way Ukraine has developed advanced drones since the Russian invasion and deployed them in the battlefield, it is building the “technology of tomorrow” today.

“When the guns fall silent, Ukraine will be the defence Colossus of Europe,” said Petraeus.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while the nation has depended heavily on the West for arms and ammunition, it has developed a domestic drone industry that has been appreciated for their role in beating back the invading Russian forces as well as conducting constant strikes on Russian energy and defence facilities deep inside the country. Just this week, Ukraine said it had struck the Russian refinery that supplies up to half of Moscow’s fuel.

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Ukraine has also used drones to rain havoc on the Russian navy in the Black Sea. Ukraine has destroyed a third of Russian Black Sea fleet since the war began in 2022, including warships, landing ships, and at least one submarine, according to an unclassified British intelligence assessment.

The cyber attacks by non-state actors on institutions such as hospitals or banks are also part of the global hybrid warfare as these cyber-criminals are proxies of certain countries and are aligned with their foreign policy suggested Pavlina Pavlova, a cybersecurity expert at the think tank New America.