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Apr 18, 2024 · What Is a Proxy War? Simply put by the Oxford Dictionary, a proxy war is a “war instigated by a major power which does not itself become involved.” But, as Paul Rahe explained, not all proxy wars follow that format.
- Overview
- Proxy wars in history
- Moral and strategic issues
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.
May 22, 2018 · A proxy war occurs when a major power instigates or plays a major role in supporting and directing a party to a conflict but does only a small portion of the actual...
Sep 2, 2021 · What Are Proxy Wars? Proxy wars involve the sponsorship of actors by an external state to influence a violent conflict’s outcome for the external state’s own strategic purposes.
Jul 1, 2020 · What happens when a country is powerful enough not to fight its own battles? In this episode, SIS professor Dylan Craig joins Big World to discuss proxy warfare. Professor Craig provides an expansive understanding of proxy warfare and how a proxy war differs from a traditional war or armed conflict (2:01).
In political science, a proxy war is as an armed conflict fought between two belligerents, wherein one belligerent is a non-state actor supported by an external third-party power. In the term proxy war, the non-state actor is the proxy, yet both belligerents in a proxy war can be considered proxies if both are receiving foreign military aid ...
Feb 20, 2023 · Episode 6, Season 1 of the Social Science of War podcast examines the role of proxy warfare in strategic and great power competition, and how the Army, the military, and the US government as a whole need to prepare for this distinct form of conflict.
