The initial phases of Project Seshat are outlined in the project's first publication, an article in the Fall 2020 issue of Negotiation Journal. Further detail is provided at this site's Background page.
Article: Hybrid Warfare, International Negotiation, and an Experiment in "Remote Convening"
The project presented a session at the 2021 (virtual) conference of the International Association for Conflict Management, featuring four of the project's security experts. Those interested in the "nuts and bolts" of recent discoveries in grey zone conflict / hybrid warfare may want to read the Q&A.
Also during 2021 five multidisciplinary, multinational teams prepared eight sample cases in grey zone conflict, for study and also for use in teaching. The cases are now being studied by other scholars and practitioners: The first priority is to assess how our own individual "lenses" may result in such different conceptions of any given attack that they hamper effective responses. During the spring of 2022 we anticipate we will receive more than 50 individual "lens" assessments and associated case commentaries.
The cases and commentaries are not yet public. The project, however, anticipates publication of the cases as well as the case commentaries, along with further writings expected in the wake of the project's first formal meeting. That is now scheduled for July 2022.
Further Reading
There is a growing body of material which may be helpful as background reading. This list includes selected book chapters, on intractable conflict and "wicked problems" in conflict management generally, from Project Seshat's predecessor Canon of Negotiation and Rethinking Negotiation Teaching projects. It also includes selected other works specifically about hybrid warfare and its practitioners. The list will be updated from time to time.
Braw, E. 2020. Grayzone and Non-Kinetic Threats: A Primer. Available at https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Elisabeth-Braw-Grayzone-Non-Kinetic-Threats-Primer.pdf?x91208 (see also https://www.aei.org/profile/elisabeth-braw/ for an up-to-date selection of Braw's frequent articles.)
Chrustie, C., J. S. Docherty, L. Lira, J. Mahuad, H. Gadlin, and C. Honeyman. 2010. Negotiating wicked problems: Five stories. In Venturing Beyond the Classroom, edited by C. Honeyman, J. Coben, and G. De Palo, 449–480. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. PDF free as https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=25&article=1001&context=dri_press&type=additional
Coleman, P., L. Bui-Wrzosinska, R. R. Vallacher, and A. Nowak. 2006. Protracted conflicts as dynamical systems. In The Negotiator’s Fieldbook, edited by A. K. Schneider and C. Honeyman, 61–73. Washington, DC: ABA Books.
Coleman, P., N. Redding, and J. Fisher. 2017a. Understanding intractable conflicts. In The Negotiator’s Desk Reference (vol. 2), edited by C. Honeyman and A. K. Schneider, 489–508. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. Excerpt free in PDF as https://www.ndrweb.com/chapter-84--public.html
---2017b. Influencing intractable conflicts. In The Negotiator’s Desk Reference (vol. 2) edited by C. Honeyman, and A. K. Schneider, 509–527. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. Excerpt free in PDF as https://www.ndrweb.com/chapter-85--public.html
Coleman, P., and R. Ricigliano. 2017. Getting in sync: What to do when problem-solving fails to fix the problem. In The Negotiator’s Desk Reference (vol. 2), edited by C. Honeyman and A. K. Schneider, 467–488. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. Excerpt free in PDF as https://www.ndrweb.com/chapter-83--public.html
Docherty, J. S., and C. Chrustie. 2013. Teaching three-dimensional negotiation to graduate students. In Educating Negotiators for a Connected World, edited by C. Honeyman, J. Coben, and A. W-M. Lee, 443–474. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. PDF free as https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=18&article=1003&context=dri_press&type=additional
Galeotti, M. 2022. The Weaponization of Everything: A Field Guide to the New Way of War. New Haven: Yale.
---2022 (forthcoming). Putin’s Wars. Oxford, UK: Osprey.
---2019. We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West Gets Him Wrong. London: Penguin.
Gaouette, N., B. Starr, and V. Salama. 2020. Pentagon warns China is exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to wage ‘economic warfare’ on the US. CNN, June 16. Available as www.cnn.com/2020/06/16/politics/pentagon-china-economic-warfare/index.html.
Honeyman, C., and J. Coben. 2010. Navigating wickedness: A new frontier in teaching negotiation. In Venturing Beyond the Classroom, edited by C. Honeyman, J. Coben, and G. De Palo, 439–447. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. PDF free as https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=24&article=1001&context=dri_press&type=additional
Lewicki, R., S. Kaufman, and J. Coben. 2013. Teaching wickedness to students: Planning and public policy, business, and law. In Educating Negotiators for a Connected World, edited by C. Honeyman, J. Coben, and A. W-M. Lee, 511–537. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. PDF free as https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=20&article=1003&context=dri_press&type=additional
Qiao, L., and X. Wang. 1999. Unrestricted Warfare. Beijing: People’s Liberation Army Publishing House. (For recommendations of English translations of Qiao and Wang, see “Précis: Unrestricted Warfare,” Military Review, Sept.–Oct. 2019, available at https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/September-October-2019/Precis-Unrestricted-Warfare/)
Tait, S. 2019. Hybrid warfare: The new face of global competition. Financial Times, October 14. Available from https://amp.ft.com/content/ffe7771e-e5bb-11e9-9743-db5a370481bc.
Article: Hybrid Warfare, International Negotiation, and an Experiment in "Remote Convening"
The project presented a session at the 2021 (virtual) conference of the International Association for Conflict Management, featuring four of the project's security experts. Those interested in the "nuts and bolts" of recent discoveries in grey zone conflict / hybrid warfare may want to read the Q&A.
Also during 2021 five multidisciplinary, multinational teams prepared eight sample cases in grey zone conflict, for study and also for use in teaching. The cases are now being studied by other scholars and practitioners: The first priority is to assess how our own individual "lenses" may result in such different conceptions of any given attack that they hamper effective responses. During the spring of 2022 we anticipate we will receive more than 50 individual "lens" assessments and associated case commentaries.
The cases and commentaries are not yet public. The project, however, anticipates publication of the cases as well as the case commentaries, along with further writings expected in the wake of the project's first formal meeting. That is now scheduled for July 2022.
Further Reading
There is a growing body of material which may be helpful as background reading. This list includes selected book chapters, on intractable conflict and "wicked problems" in conflict management generally, from Project Seshat's predecessor Canon of Negotiation and Rethinking Negotiation Teaching projects. It also includes selected other works specifically about hybrid warfare and its practitioners. The list will be updated from time to time.
Braw, E. 2020. Grayzone and Non-Kinetic Threats: A Primer. Available at https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Elisabeth-Braw-Grayzone-Non-Kinetic-Threats-Primer.pdf?x91208 (see also https://www.aei.org/profile/elisabeth-braw/ for an up-to-date selection of Braw's frequent articles.)
Chrustie, C., J. S. Docherty, L. Lira, J. Mahuad, H. Gadlin, and C. Honeyman. 2010. Negotiating wicked problems: Five stories. In Venturing Beyond the Classroom, edited by C. Honeyman, J. Coben, and G. De Palo, 449–480. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. PDF free as https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=25&article=1001&context=dri_press&type=additional
Coleman, P., L. Bui-Wrzosinska, R. R. Vallacher, and A. Nowak. 2006. Protracted conflicts as dynamical systems. In The Negotiator’s Fieldbook, edited by A. K. Schneider and C. Honeyman, 61–73. Washington, DC: ABA Books.
Coleman, P., N. Redding, and J. Fisher. 2017a. Understanding intractable conflicts. In The Negotiator’s Desk Reference (vol. 2), edited by C. Honeyman and A. K. Schneider, 489–508. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. Excerpt free in PDF as https://www.ndrweb.com/chapter-84--public.html
---2017b. Influencing intractable conflicts. In The Negotiator’s Desk Reference (vol. 2) edited by C. Honeyman, and A. K. Schneider, 509–527. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. Excerpt free in PDF as https://www.ndrweb.com/chapter-85--public.html
Coleman, P., and R. Ricigliano. 2017. Getting in sync: What to do when problem-solving fails to fix the problem. In The Negotiator’s Desk Reference (vol. 2), edited by C. Honeyman and A. K. Schneider, 467–488. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. Excerpt free in PDF as https://www.ndrweb.com/chapter-83--public.html
Docherty, J. S., and C. Chrustie. 2013. Teaching three-dimensional negotiation to graduate students. In Educating Negotiators for a Connected World, edited by C. Honeyman, J. Coben, and A. W-M. Lee, 443–474. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. PDF free as https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=18&article=1003&context=dri_press&type=additional
Galeotti, M. 2022. The Weaponization of Everything: A Field Guide to the New Way of War. New Haven: Yale.
---2022 (forthcoming). Putin’s Wars. Oxford, UK: Osprey.
---2019. We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West Gets Him Wrong. London: Penguin.
Gaouette, N., B. Starr, and V. Salama. 2020. Pentagon warns China is exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to wage ‘economic warfare’ on the US. CNN, June 16. Available as www.cnn.com/2020/06/16/politics/pentagon-china-economic-warfare/index.html.
Honeyman, C., and J. Coben. 2010. Navigating wickedness: A new frontier in teaching negotiation. In Venturing Beyond the Classroom, edited by C. Honeyman, J. Coben, and G. De Palo, 439–447. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. PDF free as https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=24&article=1001&context=dri_press&type=additional
Lewicki, R., S. Kaufman, and J. Coben. 2013. Teaching wickedness to students: Planning and public policy, business, and law. In Educating Negotiators for a Connected World, edited by C. Honeyman, J. Coben, and A. W-M. Lee, 511–537. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. PDF free as https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=20&article=1003&context=dri_press&type=additional
Qiao, L., and X. Wang. 1999. Unrestricted Warfare. Beijing: People’s Liberation Army Publishing House. (For recommendations of English translations of Qiao and Wang, see “Précis: Unrestricted Warfare,” Military Review, Sept.–Oct. 2019, available at https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/September-October-2019/Precis-Unrestricted-Warfare/)
Tait, S. 2019. Hybrid warfare: The new face of global competition. Financial Times, October 14. Available from https://amp.ft.com/content/ffe7771e-e5bb-11e9-9743-db5a370481bc.
...there is no longer any distinction between what is or is not the battlefield. Spaces in nature...are battlefields, but social spaces such as...politics, economics, culture, and the psyche are also battlefields...[Warfare] can use violence, or it can be nonviolent. It can be a confrontation between professional soldiers, or one between newly emerging forces consisting primarily of ordinary people or experts.
Qiao, L. and Wang, X., Unrestricted Warfare
Beijing: People's Liberation Army Publishing House, 1999 (translation, one of several available)
Qiao, L. and Wang, X., Unrestricted Warfare
Beijing: People's Liberation Army Publishing House, 1999 (translation, one of several available)