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In this era of rapid technological, social, economic and political change, increasing interstate competition and swift strategic innovation, hybrid strategies have become part and parcel of contemporary statecraft. Thus far, Western liberal democracies have not been able to effectively counter the hybrid strategies of other actors. In fact, these actors have seized the strategic initiative by synergistically deploying a variety of instruments of influence across different domains. The approaches of liberal democracies towards these strategic innovations has been largely reactive rather than proactive in nature. Liberal democracies have had trouble articulating effective strategies and the process of designing new postures to address a salient form of contemporary conflict is still in its early stages. This paper argues that deterrence can be an important component of such a posture, although the emergence of new strategic challenges necessitates the evolution and adaptation of traditional concepts of deterrence.