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In this article I study the competing US and Chinese narratives about the South China Sea. Arguing that the practice of calculating power shifts in terms of the changing distribution of material capabilities is inadequate, I complement existing literature by taking ideational and normative dimensions of power into account. I ask what the alternative Chinese narrative of power and leadership in the South China Sea looks like and how it is perceived by others in comparison with the dominant US narrative. While a "hard" power transition is ongoing, China's preferred narrative has yet to become widely accepted and the US narrative will remain dominant for now. Nevertheless, China has been making progress in shifting the narrative of what the future could look like with China's vision for a post-US regional and global order now seen as a possible alternative.

Seeking a concept to describe the challenge from Russia G. Alexander Crowther 3 An American view: Hybrid threats and intelligence Gregory F. Treverton 4 A perspective on EU hybrid threat early warning efforts Patrick Cullen Part II Tools and means 5 Conceptualizing and countering hybrid threats and hybrid warfare: The role of the military in the grey zone Mikael Weissmann 6 Understanding Russian thinking on gibridnaya voyna Markus Göransson 7 China and its hybrid warfare spectrum Lora Saalman 8 Influence operations and the modern information environment Björn Palmertz 9 Hybrid threats and new challenges for multilateral intelligence cooperation Henrik Häggström 10 Cyberwarfare and the internet: The implications of a more digitalized world

This article first traces the origin of hybrid warfare and the label game surrounding the concept, asking whether it is merely old wine in a new bottle, and if so, whether it is still a useful concept. It is found that while being old wine in new bottles, it is still a good wine well worth drinking. While there is not much new in the concept itself, it is a useful tool to think about past wars, today's wars and the wars of the future. Thereafter, this paper analyses how hybrid warfare and hybrid threats are to be understood in the context of peace, conflict and war. It is shown how hybrid warfare and threats fit into our traditional understanding of conflict dynamics.