Vietnam faces a physically imminent threat of hybrid activities and grey-zone tactics in the coastal and maritime domain. There is a need to address these threats and challenges not reactively, but preventively by increasing readiness to manage, counter and recover to minimize the effects of hybrid threats. Working with international partners to identify weaknesses before they are exploited is crucial. It was timely that the 11th Ocean Dialogue focuses on hybrid activities in the context of the oceans as a domain.
DAV Deputy Director Nguyen Hung Son stated that hybrid activities are not a new phenomenon in the field of research, but these grey-zone activities are yet not fully addressed, identified or assessed by international law. He states that this events aims to scrutinize the foundation of those activities, the lack of cooperation to apply international law or taking advantage of the immature state of international law, thereby demanding a more effective response to this activity.
Addressing the event, the KAS Vietnam Resident Representative Florian Feyerabend talks about the first German national security strategy, named “Integrated Security for Germany” during his opening remarks. The national security strategy includes the announcement to develop an own strategy, which will focus on facing hybrid activities. Germany wants to increase and develop their capabilities and instruments to identify, analyze and counter hybrid threats.
The event attracted around 150 delegates attending onsite and online, including international experts and scholars, diplomatic missions in Vietnam, representatives of various ministries, government agencies and research institutions from Southeast Asian countries. It consisted of presentations and vivid discussions, showing not only different perspectives but also different focuses on numerous areas of this topic, enabling a broad understanding of this complex topic. Regional and international experts identified, and analyzed potential threats by hybrid activities and recommended solutions and policies on how to handle these threats.
