![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170215122404im_/https://q.publicintelligence.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/DoS-ISAB-GrayZone-150x150.png)
The study addresses the challenges facing the United States from the increasing use by rivals and adversaries – state and non-state alike – of what have come to be called “Gray Zone” techniques. The term Gray Zone (“GZ”) denotes the use of techniques to achieve a nation’s goals and frustrate those of its rivals by employing instruments of power – often asymmetric and ambiguous in character – that are not direct use of acknowledged regular military forces.