They’re agile. They’re mobile. And they’re elusive. They’re stateless, they’re disruptive, and they’re violent. They’re the new barbarians. And they’re at the gates of Western civilization.
In an era of heightened great power conflict and competition, they’re changing the calculus, strategy, and rules of international politics. Are terrorists, pirates, and hackers the new Huns, Goths, and Vandals? And how do they play into the conflict between Russia and the West?
On this week’s Power Vertical Podcast, Brian Whitmore speaks with former U.S. State Department official Jakub Grygiel, author of the new book Return of the Barbarians: Confronting Non-State Actors from Ancient Rome to the Present, to find out.
The Power Vertical is a CEPA podcast covering the Kremlin for Kremlin watchers. All opinions are those of the guests and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.
![Photo: TBILISI, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 23, 2021: People take part in a rally in support of Nika Melia, a member of the Georgian Parliament, outside the offices of the Georgian Parliament. Melia was arrested by officers of the Georgian Interior Ministry upon the ruling of the Tbilisi City Court. On February 17, the court ruled to put Melia back in custody for failing to pay a 40,000 Georgian lari [more than $12,000] bail in his case over civil disturbances during the June 2019. Credit: David Mdzinarishvili/TASS via Reuters Connect](https://i0.wp.com/cepa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2021-02-23T150348Z_309075313_MT1TASSP44473053_RTRMADP_3_TASS-PIC.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1)