The phrase you are referring to
comes not from a sporting “Great Masters Cup” but from the Chinese military
treatise **Unrestricted Warfare (超限战，*Chāo Xiàn Zhàn*)** by
PLA Air Force Colonels **Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui** (1999). In that text,
the authors write metaphorically that **“combinations were the cocktails that
existed in the vessels of the great war masters”**—meaning that superior
commanders have always won by **mixing multiple means, domains and methods**
rather than relying on a single weapon or battlefield.
-- What the “cocktail” concept means
in Unrestricted Warfare
In Qiao and Wang’s framework, a
“cocktail” is **combined, cross domain warfare beyond traditional limits**.
They argue that in the modern era:
- **Any technology can be combined
with any other technology.**
- **Military and non military means
can be fused** (economic, legal, cyber, informational, financial, terrorist,
diplomatic, etc.).
- **War and peace, combatant and
civilian spheres, and geographic boundaries are systematically blurred.**
They formalize this as a **“modified
combined war that goes beyond the limits”**, built on four types of
combination:
1. **Supra national** – actions that
transcend state boundaries (global finance, media, diaspora, NGOs).
2. **Supra domain** – mixing land,
sea, air, space, cyber, information, economic and legal domains.
3. **Supra means** – using military
force together with sanctions, lawfare, cyberattacks, propaganda, energy
leverage, etc.
4. **Supra tier** – coordinating
tactical, operational and strategic levels so that small actions accumulate
into strategic effects.
The “cocktail” metaphor captures the
idea that **victory goes to those who can best blend diverse instruments into a
coherent, synchronized campaign**, not necessarily to those with the biggest
conventional army.
-- Relevance to the Russia–Ukraine
war
The Russia–Ukraine war is a near
textbook illustration of this “cocktail” logic, though not labelled as such by
Moscow. Both sides, and especially Russia, employ **multi domain, multi means
campaigns** that go well beyond front line fighting:
--- 1. Supra national dimension
- **Global energy and food
leverage:** Russia uses oil, gas and grain exports (and threats to disrupt
them) to influence Europe, the Global South and world prices.
- **Diaspora and proxy networks:**
Use of Russian speaking communities, mercenaries (e.g., Wagner), and
sympathetic political actors abroad to shape opinion and policy.
- **Sanctions and counter
sanctions:** Western financial sanctions vs. Russian rerouting of trade, shadow
fleets, and alternative payment systems.
--- 2. Supra domain integration
- **Kinetic + cyber + information:**
Conventional artillery, missiles and drones are synchronized with cyberattacks
on infrastructure, GPS/communications disruption, and intense information
operations.
- **Space and commercial tech:** Use
of commercial satellites, Starlink, civilian drones, and AI enabled targeting
turns civilian technology into warfighting assets.
- **Legal and diplomatic domains:**
Competing narratives at the UN, ICJ, and other fora; use of “lawfare” to
legitimize or delegitimize actions.
--- 3. Supra means (military + non
military tools)
- **Narrative warfare:** Russia’s
core stories—“denazification,” protection of Russians, resistance to NATO
expansion—are deployed globally to fracture Western unity and justify the war.
- **Economic coercion:** Gas cut
offs, price manipulation, and energy dependency as strategic weapons against
Europe.
- **Nuclear signaling:** Deliberate
nuclear rhetoric and posture adjustments to deter deeper Western involvement
and manipulate risk perceptions.
- **Partisan/civilian
mobilization:** Ukraine’s encouragement of civilians to make Molotov cocktails
(“Bandera smoothies”) and use improvised weapons is itself a form of “cocktail”
thinking—blending regular forces with popular resistance and simple, mass
producible tools.[
--- 4. Supra tier effects
- **Tactical actions with strategic
intent:** Limited missile strikes on energy infrastructure, for example, are
designed not just for local damage but to degrade Ukraine’s economy, morale,
and international support over time.
- **Incremental “salami slicing” and
escalation management:** Both Moscow and Washington calibrate steps (weapons
deliveries, target sets, rhetoric) to avoid sudden escalation while gradually
shifting the balance—a layered, cocktail like approach to crisis management.
In short, the **“cocktail” concept
from the “great war masters”** is highly relevant: the Russia–Ukraine war is
being fought as much in **finance, energy markets, cyberspace, law, media and
nuclear psychology** as on the ground in Donbas or along the Dnipro. The side that better **mixes and
synchronizes** these instruments—while maintaining domestic cohesion and
international support—will shape the war’s ultimate outcome, exactly as Qiao
and Wang predicted for 21st century conflict.
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