In early September, as part of a strategic plan to buttress our country’s overall security, Pres Ali launched the “National Defence Institute” (NDI). The mission of the NDI was announced as: “to educate joint services officers and their civilian counterparts using a defence, security, and development-focused curriculum delivered in a civil-military context, better equipping them to assume mid- to senior-level operational and strategic roles within their parent organisations. Its overarching vision is for the institute to be a leading academic institution in defence, security, and development studies in Guyana and the Americas.”
The Institute’s main strategic partners are the US National Defense University and The Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies which were crucial in conceptualising the curriculum for the NDI programmes that will be administered through the University of Guyana (UG). At the launch, President Ali highlighted that the NDI is part of a much larger plan aimed at protecting and safeguarding Guyana’s national interests against every threat, particularly its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
These sentiments were echoed by the Chairman of the NDI, Colonel Sheldon Howell, who emphasized, “The National Defence Institute will serve as a critical platform for developing the strategies and policies that will safeguard our nation’s interests. The leaders trained here will be instrumental in creating sustainable security programmes that not only protect our sovereignty but also contribute to the broader goals of national development.”
The NDI has evidently not just been training individuals but also actively engaging in the analysis of real-time threats to our security. This was revealed in its inaugural “CEO Cybersecurity Workshop” last Saturday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC). There, according to a report carried by this newspaper, Assistant Director Dr Seon Levius delivered a hard-hitting exposé on Venezuela’s orchestrated cyber operations targeting Guyana. He unveiled the faces, names, and organisations behind the malicious campaign to undermine Guyana’s sovereignty over the Essequibo Region.
“Using high-definition visuals and intelligence, Dr Levius detailed the tactics employed, from disinformation campaigns and ransomware attacks to phishing schemes aimed at destabilising institutions. “Let there be no doubt—Guyana knows exactly what is happening, and we are not defenceless.” It was heartening to be informed about our capacity to counter these cyberspace attacks, since – as was adumbrated by one of this newspaper’s columnists – these attacks are but one new offensive capability deployed in the “hybrid wars” fought in “grey zones”.
As was described in “Venezuela’s grey zone war”, “Rather than the old “absolute, kinetic wars”, today, (countries) discuss, prepare for, and engage in, “hybrid wars” – the use of a range of different methods to attack an enemy. These include political, diplomatic, economic, and financial initiatives and the spreading of propaganda, criminality, infiltration by fifth columnists, or attacking important computer systems. Technology has opened up new ways to conduct hybrid warfare. Hybrid wars are conducted in what are called “grey zones” – where all instruments of national power are leveraged to achieve the aggressor’s aims. Venezuela’s use of PetroCaribe’s debt write-offs made some of our fellow Caricom members not only undermine our diplomatic strength, but give succour to Maduro in a very personalized manner, that subverted decades-long institution building.
“In a phrase, hybrid wars strive to avoid Clausewitz’s kinetic war as “politics by other means” and embrace Sun Tzu’s Art of War, where the enemy can be conquered without necessarily fighting. The strength of the adversary is gradually sapped in the grey zone, as much energy is wasted to keep the war from getting kinetic. The premises of the hybrid war aggressor also become normalized over time, as we saw with Russia’s moves against Ukraine and other neighbours, including Georgia and now the Baltics.”
In addition to the cyber warfare being waged by Venezuela as described by Dr Seon Levius, we should note that the country’s recent undermining of our “25 by 25” food security initiative by persuading CariCom member St Vincent’s that the latter is foundering and they should cultivate the 25,000 acres of land awarded them in Venezuela as part of its AgroAlba initiative.
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