Description
A security discourse based on the concepts of the grey zone and hybrid threats is currently emerging among international security actors and policy-makers. The paper analyses this discourse and the policy responses that have been proposed, noting that the key organizing concept in responding to hybrid threats is resilience. This concept is potentially problematic in that resilience has been critically examined as controversial and political in nature insofar as it promotes programmatic preparedness and social control, demanding that civil society, market actors, and individuals “rally ‘round the flag” and contribute to wide-ranging national security management. What is more interesting from a methodological and linguistic point of view is the way in which resilience enables narration about the past, present, and the future. By building or improving resilience we can escape the present chaos and uncertainty and craft a future that is more stable and secure. In that sense, resilience performs a linguistic function that allows the victim to go from inaction and vulnerability to action and readiness and enables a storytelling based on travelling from one stable period to another.
