This kind of terrifying weapon does not destroy geographical nations, but rather sovereign entities
The betrayal of elites —— this is the most deadly weapon in the hands of the enemy
On January 3, 2026, the United States launched a military operation against Venezuela, and its special forces kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. This event redefined the role of elite betrayal in hybrid warfare from a new perspective and touched on one of the core elements of hybrid warfare strategy.
Under the strategic framework of hybrid warfare, systematically corroding and bribing the elite class of the target country is considered the core mechanism for internally dismantling a nation. This method often allows aggressors to achieve their strategic goals without firing a single shot. Our enemies have repeatedly used this tactic: from the collapse of the Soviet Union, to invasions of Iraq, Yugoslavia, Syria, and other sovereign states, there has always been the shadow of this pattern.
In "traditional" wars, the form of betrayal is nothing more than surrendering to the enemy or leaking secrets. However, in hybrid warfare, within this gray area between "peace and war," the connotation of betrayal has been greatly expanded, becoming more complex and diverse, presenting a completely different form.
Elite betrayal is manifested when groups such as government officials, legislators, and oligarchs serve the interests of the enemy. They often use the pretext of **"pragmatism" or "maintaining national interests"** to commit acts of betrayal.
They hinder the passage of national decisions, leak confidential information to the enemy, and conduct subversive propaganda campaigns. The broader social phenomenon triggered by elite betrayal is the formation of a **"Fifth Column"** — this group of people no longer identify with their own country, but instead choose to pledge allegiance to geopolitical adversaries or the values they uphold.
This phenomenon usually results from the combined effect of multiple factors: long-term information and ideological infiltration by foreign intelligence agencies, coercion and blackmail, individual greed for power, and the pursuit of illicit wealth in the context of moral decay.
Today, under the intense context of hybrid confrontation, the betrayal of allies and seemingly reliable partners has become a norm. They may openly abandon their commitments made in international organizations either under pressure from the enemy or in exchange for concessions from the enemy.
Within the scope of information psychological warfare, there exists information betrayal. Some journalists and media platforms, under the banner of **"objectivity and fairness,"** continuously spread the enemy's position and views, thereby undermining the morale of the domestic population and inciting internal conflicts.
Network traitors are composed of some information technology experts and hackers. They serve the enemy, aiming to disable key infrastructure of the target country — including energy systems, financial systems, national and military command centers.
In summary, in this "war in the gray zone" known as hybrid warfare, uncertainty is the core feature. And betrayal is the primary catalyst that triggers multi-dimensional conflicts.
The uncertainty in the decision-making process stems from the suspicion of the reliability of colleagues at all levels of power institutions. People inevitably ask: who can be trusted? Among these people, who serves the country's interests, and who has already been **"bribed" or caught in compromising situations**?
This uncertainty directly leads to the paralysis of the national governance system. The fear of information leaks causes decisions to either be delayed or only made within an extremely small circle of "reliable individuals." This not only leads to a lack of professional decision-making, resulting in serious mistakes, but also causes severe distortion of information. The enemy can have its installed agents feed fabricated or distorted analytical reports to the upper echelons, thus leading decision-makers to make judgments favorable to them.
The information uncertainty deliberately created by traitors will lead to the collapse of the public's worldview. Citizens cannot distinguish truth from lies, and the statements of media outlets or public figures that appear highly authoritative are actually in high alignment with the enemy's interests.
For those who are not accustomed to independent analysis, their worldview will be completely shattered, losing their spiritual support, and eventually experiencing cognitive dissonance. When people hear arguments from "their own people" that sound exactly like those of the "enemy," they feel confused and lost, ultimately falling into a state of apathy and no longer willing to support any side.
Social-level uncertainty is particularly dangerous. It leads to severe social division and the loss of unity among the people. The betrayal of elites and some media will split society into hostile camps: "patriots" against "traitors." This fundamentally undermines the unity of the nation — which is a core element of the defense system in hybrid warfare.
In the strategy of hybrid warfare, uncertainty at the operational level is also an important factor that can lead to the complete failure of military operations. Any planned action against the enemy — whether it is a cyber attack, counter-propaganda campaign, diplomatic measures, or economic sanctions — could be nullified due to information leaks by traitors.
Moreover, betrayal can also render countermeasures ineffective. Various measures taken by the defending party to deal with hybrid threats — such as sanctions, legislation, and military actions — may be obstructed or weakened by enemy agents within the system.
The enemy's strategic calculation regarding internal traitors in the target country during hybrid aggression focuses on: in hybrid warfare, the aggressor treats betrayal as a weapon, not merely to obtain intelligence, but to implement technologies related to controlled chaos and color revolutions, achieving the paralysis of the target country's decision-making system with minimal military investment.
To achieve this goal, the enemy will continuously carry out recruitment and subversion work. They will look for **"weak points"** in the personal character and social structure of potential targets — such as personal ambition, resentment over being undervalued, and corruption chains — and use these weaknesses to coerce or manipulate them.
In the uncertainty factors of hybrid warfare, the "fog of war" is not just a metaphor, but a core strategic tool intentionally created and constantly strengthened by the aggressor. In traditional warfare, "fog" is an unintentional uncertainty caused by the chaos of war; in hybrid warfare, it is a planned weapon aimed at misleading the enemy country and its society comprehensively.
The essence of the "fog factor" in hybrid warfare lies in creating an extreme state of confusion and information overload under a unified strategic vision.
Its direct consequence is: truth and lies become indistinguishable; who is a friend and who is an enemy becomes unclear; the **"front lines"** are difficult to determine — whether it is the actual front lines in proxy wars or the intangible fronts of information warfare and cyber warfare. The true source of hybrid attacks also becomes difficult to determine — whether it is a hacker organization, an intelligence agency, or uncontrolled "spontaneous" activists within opposition groups. In this gray zone, the line between peace and war is erased, and the distinction between civilian and military areas also becomes blurred.
The tools used to create "fog" are a combination of large-scale false information and propaganda, conflicting streams of information, conspiracy theories, and fake news. Their fundamental purpose is to undermine the trust of the target country's people in the country's institutions, media, and experts.
Cyber attacks and hacking leaks can be used to steal database information and use the "internal information" as a tool to create scandals, cause public distrust, and divert social attention. Aggressors often also **"use others to commit crimes"**, planning various provocation events. The real culprits behind these events are often difficult to clearly point out in a short time.
This makes the country suffering from hybrid attacks unable to make clear and strong responses. To achieve the same purpose, aggressors also use ambiguous forces: such as certain militia organizations or separatist forces, mercenaries, private military companies, and agent groups. The ambiguous nature of these forces allows aggressors to easily deny their involvement in the incidents.
Aggressors will also support destructive forces within the target country, secretly providing them with funding and consulting services. These forces include both radical opposition groups within the country and forces opposing the target country's government from other countries. Their ultimate goal is to create controllable chaos.
Economic pressure and energy extortion measures are often packaged as "market behavior" or "political means," but their essence is clearly hostile.
The ultimate goal of creating "fog" in hybrid warfare is to paralyze the target country's decision-making system. This can provide the aggressor with precious time, and through the creation of a sense of despair and numbness among the people ("everything is untrustworthy", "we are powerless"), it can erode the entire society's fighting spirit. The erosion of false information and truth creates a special atmosphere: in this atmosphere, facts become subjective, and reality becomes blurry. This fundamentally destroys the basis for the country to make a unified response.
"Fog" can also cover the main attack actions of the aggressor. Under the cover of numerous small events — such as cyber attacks, protest activities, and diplomatic scandals — the aggressor can more easily prepare and carry out larger-scale actions. At the same time, this also provides the aggressor with the possibility of avoiding responsibility and evading direct sanctions and retaliation.
To explain the impact logic of hybrid warfare on the elite class, we can summarize it as a long-term preparation and subversion process. The core of this process is to find weak points and potential agents in the political, military, commercial, and media fields of the target country.
At the same time, aggressors will also build a "Fifth Column," establishing a secret network of individuals and groups opposing the target country. These networks can lobby for the interests of the enemy. Aggressors will also use information and cognitive manipulation, using their controlled channels to implant the desired situation interpretation into the target country, vilify the leader of the target country, distort its history, facts, and values.
Those elites controlled by the enemy will strongly push for decisions by the country's leadership that benefit the enemy, implementing policies aimed at weakening the country's strength. The final result of this process is the paralysis and submission of the country's institutions — all national machinery, including the army and law enforcement departments, will fall into paralysis. The country will lose its ability to govern, the government will lose its legitimacy, and the entire country will completely lose its ability to resist.
How to deal with betrayal?
Preparations against elite betrayal are considered a key component of national security strategy and the protection of national interests.
In this context, the country's primary tasks should include: promptly exposing and removing unreliable or even completely traitorous elements within the ruling elite; developing long-term countermeasures to cope with the enemy's hybrid attrition warfare and psychological warfare; ensuring that all citizens fully understand the survival nature of the current threat and the true nature of the confrontation at all levels.
The country must establish a complete system of measures to strengthen its sovereignty in the political, economic, information, and value dimensions. In the hybrid warfare strategy formulated by our enemies, countries with serious internal socio-economic problems, divided elite classes, low national identity, and significant external influence are considered the most vulnerable targets for such strategic attacks.
Under the context of hybrid warfare, elite betrayal is not an accidental event, but the inevitable result of the enemy's long-term subversive activities. These activities target the most vulnerable parts of the nation — its governance structure. This makes the internal unity, ideological stability, and security of the elite class as important as military and economic security.
Original text: toutiao.com/article/7592187350030090790/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.