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This is a list of proxy wars. Major powers have been highlighted in bold. A proxy war is defined as "a war fought between groups of smaller countries that each represent the interests of other larger powers, and may have help and support from these".
WarDatesCombatant 1Combatant 21944–1949 [26]CPC PLA [15] [16] Supported by: Soviet ...KMT NRA Supported by: United States1945–1946Azerbaijan People's Republic Republic of ...Imperial State of Iran Supported by: ...1946–1949 [27] [28]Greek communists ( Democratic Army of ...Greece [27] [28] Supported by: United ...1946–1954 [29] [30]Khmer Issarak [31] Pathet Lao [32] Viet ...France [29] [30] State of Vietnam ...A cartoon interpretation of small proxy conflicts during the Cold War. The United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) did not go to war with each other between 1945 and 1991. Instead, both superpowers sought to wield global power and influence by manipulating smaller nations.
- Overview
- Proxy wars in history
- Moral and strategic issues
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proxy war, a military conflict in which one or more third parties directly or indirectly support one or more state or nonstate combatants in an effort to influence the conflict’s outcome and thereby to advance their own strategic interests or to undermine those of their opponents. Third parties in a proxy war do not participate in the actual fighti...
Proxy wars have a long history in world affairs. Nations and empires have used them as both military and foreign policy strategies to influence or even subdue neighbouring states. The Byzantine Empire (330–1453), for example, instigated proxy wars by deliberately stoking hostilities between different groups within rival nations. It then backed the strongest side when civil war broke out. During World War I, Britain and France used a similar strategy by supporting the Arab Revolt (1916–18) against the Ottoman Empire. Likewise, the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) was a proxy conflict between Republican forces, supported by the Soviet Union, and Nationalist forces, supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Notably, Germany used the civil war to test new weapons technologies on the Spanish population.
As the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union grew during the 1950s and ’60s, the intense competition between the two countries raised the spectre that direct conflict would lead to global annihilation. Proxy wars became a more acceptable way for the two superpowers to compete for world influence. During the Cold War, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China engaged in several proxy wars, including the Angolan civil war (1975–2002). The Vietnam War (1954–75) was a major proxy war for the Soviet-Chinese coalition that supported North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. The eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces and the defeat of South Vietnam achieved the coalition’s goals of limiting American influence in the region and increasing its own.
During the 1980s, after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to install a new Afghan communist government, the United States acted as a third party in a proxy war that pitted Afghan and Soviet troops against Islamic guerrillas, who were supplied with weapons and other military equipment by the U.S. government. The cost of the Afghan War of 1978–92 crippled the Soviet Union and contributed to its eventual downfall.
Proxy wars have continued into the 21st century. Notable examples include a civil war in Yemen, begun in 2014, involving a major clash between the militant Houthi movement, supported by Iran, and Yemeni government forces, supported by Saudi Arabia and its allies. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the United States and its NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) allies acted as third-party supporters of Ukraine, supplying that country with significant military assistance and imposing economic sanctions on Russia, while China and Iran acted as third-party supporters of Russia.
Engaging in proxy wars carries significant moral and strategic risks, particularly for democratic countries that support constitutional government and human rights. These risks include:
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•Facilitating the emergence of a political or military dictatorship. Such antidemocratic governments could emerge from a successful proxy war if the surrogate’s goals happen to be inconsistent with its supporter’s democratic values and morals.
•Widening local military conflicts. Supplying weapons, military equipment, and other provisions to surrogates can result in the loss or covert sale of such matériel to other militant groups.
•Failing to achieve strategic or foreign policy goals and losing influence and resources as a result. China, the United States, and Russia have all experienced such losses when they were defeated in proxy wars.
Learn about proxy wars, military conflicts in which third parties support one or more combatants to advance their own interests. Explore the history of proxy wars, from the Byzantine Empire to the Cold War and beyond, and the moral and strategic risks involved.
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May 25, 2023 · Proxy Wars. This interactive map examines eight of the Cold War’s most important “hot wars,” and why the United States and Soviet Union got involved.
Apr 18, 2024 · Today, the United States is engaged in multiple proxy wars: supplying arms to the Ukrainians to repel and degrade the Russian military; supplying arms to Israel so it can dismantle Hamas (an Iranian proxy); and directly confronting a wider array of Iranian proxies in Syria, Iraq, and the Red Sea.
The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, that started in 1947, two years after the end of World War II and lasted to 1991, the fall of the Soviet Union. The term cold war is used because there was no large-scale fighting ...
Mar 23, 2022 · Learn about the 45-year standoff between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. that shaped the postwar world. Explore the causes, events, and consequences of the Cold War and its proxy wars across the globe.
