Gray-Zone Warfare Remains a Real and Present Danger

A growing threat to the US is getting little notice. Every day, Americans are subjected to influence peddlers, principally from China and Russia. This threat takes many forms and is part of an asymmetric style of combat known variously as gray-zone and hybrid warfare. When applied, it can bring an adversary to its knees without firing a shot. A strategically planned gray-zone attack on the US can drive costs, probe defenses, and destroy American citizens’ confidence in its institutions. One example is what appears to be China’s influence on local American communities, prompting them to oppose large data centers.

Gray-Zone Warfare: An Existing Threat

A March 2026 Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community warned of attacks on the US. The assessment specifically calls out Russia as a primary culprit, but also mentions China, North Korea, and Iran as accomplices in hybrid warfare assaults on Americans. “Russia’s gray zone tools include cyber-attacks, disinformation and influence operations, energy market manipulation, military intimidation, and sabotage. Russia often hides and denies its role, complicating US efforts to counter it,” the Intelligence Community reported.

Free with the Daily Briefing

85Essays

Unravel the Constitution

Hamilton, Madison & Jay’s complete case for America, free and searchable in the Publius Reader.

Join Free & Read

Free with the Daily Briefing. Unsubscribe anytime.

Attacks on US infrastructure, federal, state, and local governments, and domestic educational institutions from grade schools to universities are all too common. Recently, Liberty Nation News’ Liz Lawrence penned a cautionary tale titled, “Is the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] Influencing US State Governments?” Lawrence observed, for example: “California State Treasurer Fiona Ma has, perhaps unknowingly, revealed a strong connection to important CCP figures, having met repeatedly in the US and China with top Chinese officials and individuals linked to intelligence circles, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation.” 

All too often, such attempts by the CCP to influence state governments are viewed simply as the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) legitimate support for China’s point of view - but that is too passive a perspective. It is blatant PRC gray-zone warfare designed to break down the binders that hold our institutions together, shattering Americans’ confidence in the nation’s ability to govern. It is intellectual espionage with very destructive consequences. Cyber-attacks, another avenue for CCP warfare on the US short of combat, have evolved to the point where cyberwarfare is a daily occurrence. The Wall Street Journal explained:

“China’s hackers were once thought to be interested chiefly in business secrets and huge sets of private consumer data. But the latest hacks make clear they are now soldiers on the front lines of potential geopolitical conflict between the US and China, in which cyberwarfare tools are expected to be powerful weapons…In the infrastructure attacks, which began at least as early as 2019 and are still taking place, hackers connected to China’s military embedded themselves in arenas that spies usually ignored, including a water utility in Hawaii, a port in Houston and an oil-and-gas processing facility.”

A good example of how the Chinese are attempting to disadvantage the US is the recent debate over building artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. The ability to manipulate enormous quantities of data is critical to developing AI and applying it usefully. Recently, states and communities have had heated debates and a growing number of objections to building large data centers. However, misinformation and disinformation are fueling activists’ opposition to the data centers.

Senator Cotton Warns of China Influence Operations

In a June 10, 2026, letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) asked the Justice Department to investigate the CCP's attempts to influence Americans against having data centers in their communities. Cotton wrote: “Alarming reports indicate that a network of foreign actors, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is attempting to manipulate US policy and public opinion on data centers.” Additionally, Cotton maintains that a significant portion of more than $2 billion was provided to “foreign-funded charitable entities…driving the campaign against US data centers and influencing policymakers.”

It’s not just the Chinese who would like to see America’s acknowledged lead in AI hobbled. According to The New York Times, “China, Russia and, to a lesser extent, Iran have sought to use state media outlets to turn the controversy over data centers in the United States into ‘a domestic fracture point,’ according to a new analysis by Alethea, a threat intelligence company, which identified scores of articles and posts on social media this year.” The consequence of the CCP-driven media assault on data centers is that it stalls development and constrains US computer technology advancement. 

Whether it’s cyberattacks, spreading disinformation, or attempts to diminish confidence in American institutions, it’s time that gray-zone attacks on the US are treated as hostile, war-like acts and not isolated law enforcement incidents or political spats. Understanding what is happening is the first line of defense.  

~

The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.