Continuing the Same Policy with Different Tools?

Strategic Asymmetries between the Gerasimov Doctrine and the EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox

Abstract

In the article the relationship between the two dominant but different frameworks, the Russian and European approaches to conflicts in cyberspace, are examined. To this end, the approaches represented by the article known as the Gerasimov Doctrine on the part of the Russian Federation and the European Union's Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox are compared. While the Russians proactively combine various military and non-military operations during conflicts, the European Union takes a reactive approach. The two systems operate on completely different time scales: the article demonstrates through examples that Russian operations in cyberspace can be carried out in a matter of days, whereas the actual implementation of the EU's toolkit may take several years in practice. The convergence of the two approaches in cyberspace therefore results in a lack of strategic balance, which is an issue that the European Union will have to resolve in the long term. Finally, the article makes recommendations for improving the EU's toolkit and response mechanism.