HYBRID WARFARE AND REGIONAL POWER COMPETITION: A CASE STUDY OF THE 2026 IRAN–ISRAEL CONFLICT

Abstract

The Iran 2026 Israel conflict is a watershed event in the modern geopolitics as a vivid example of hybrid warfare approaches combined with rivalry on the power level in the region. This paper explores the ways state and non-state actors used a multidimensional scale of conventional military actions, cyber warfare, proxy conflicts, information attacks and nuclear coercive communications to promote strategic goals without necessarily entering into the full-scale conventional military conflicts. This qualitative case study is based on the hybrid warfare theory and regional power rivalry frameworks as it reviews secondary data comprising of peer-reviewed literature, policy reports, credible news materials published during and after the war. The results show that the Iran-Iran 2026 military conflict was not a singular military incident but the conclusion of a cycle of escalation of the decades long period or a period where a proxy war had evolved into a kinetic war. The conflict also revealed the focal role of technological asymmetry especially in the drone warfare, cyber operations and precision-strike capabilities in the development of modern regional power relations. This research adds to the existing literature on the subject of hybrid warfare by determining some peculiarities of engagement peculiar to the Middle East geopolitical situations.