The ‘Into the Grey: Grey Zone Warfare in Past, Present, and Future’ project is an AHRC funded collaborative initiative between Lancaster University and the University of Amsterdam. The project aims to develop a shared framework to understand and analyse ‘grey-zone warfare’. Through interdisciplinary research and international collaboration, it seeks to inform stakeholders such as policymakers, researchers and the public, while reflecting on strategies to address these increasingly complex threats.

The third project workshop led by Professor Marco Wyss of the CWD and Professor Samuël Kruizinga of the University of Amsterdam was held in early December at the NATO Defence College in Rome. The workshop brought fifteen academics and thinkers together from across Europe and Asia to develop a shared typology of ‘grey-zone warfare’ through examining examples from different epochs and geographies. These included ‘Grey-Zone Warfare in the Medieval World, 700-1200’; ‘The Grey Sahel: Between War and Peace in Africa’; and ‘The Philippines’ “Assertive Transparency” Counter-Grey-Zone Strategy in the South China Sea’.

Following the workshop, focus will turn towards a collection of essays examining ‘grey-zone warfare’ in the epochs and geographies considered. The resulting book will be edited by Professor Wyss and Professor Kruizinga and is planned for publication in early 2026.

More information on this research can be found on the project webpage.