HYBRID WARFARE: CONSEQUENCES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT A CASE STUDY OF ARMENIA

This article explores the structural mechanisms, information-psychological operations, and technological vectors of hybrid warfare used against the Republic of Armenia within the strategic framework of regional geopolitical developments between 2020 and 2024. Confining its scope to specific, empirically verifiable case studies within this defined timeframe, the paper analyses how non-kinetic instruments, specifically targeted disinformation, cyber subversion, digital espionage, and cognitive manipulation, are synchronized with military pressure by adversarial actors to weaken national security. Drawing on the theoretical contributions of Frank G. Hoffman, Valery Gerasimov, and contemporary security scholars, the study examines how these asymmetric tools function within the “gray zone” to destruct state-society relations, exploit domestic institutional vulnerabilities, and manipulate public consciousness. Through a critical examination of coordinated inauthentic behavior, digital espionage operations such as the Pegasus deployment, and the multi-layered informational blockade preceding the forced displacement of the population of Artsakh in 2023, the research evaluates the long-term cognitive and socio-psychological vulnerabilities induced within Armenian society. Based on these regional security findings, the article outlines practical approaches to strengthening state communication infrastructures and enhancing media-psychological and cognitive resilience as vital, non-traditional components of national security.[1] [1] Thiele 2018.