Despite their absence from international headlines, proxy wars have a huge impact on the lives of civilians. They take a toll on families, children and communities that lingers long after the conflict has ended. And the enduring damage caused by proxy wars often requires generations to heal.
Proxy war involves the sponsorship of actors by an external state to influence a violent conflict’s outcome for its strategic purposes. It also entails the sponsoring power avoiding direct action by relying on a range of tools, including covert support to non-state militias and contractors.
The advantage of indirect warfare for great powers is that it can be more scalable than a full-scale military engagement. It also provides an avenue to avoid direct confrontation and to leverage regional allies to achieve its goals. Yet, it also carries significant risks for the intervening state and for its proxies.
A major problem is that the interventionist state’s lack of control over its proxies can lead them to pursue their own agenda, which may be entirely separate from the intervening state’s objectives. The asymmetry of power can be exploited by a proxy to create an environment in which it is impossible for the intervening state to end the conflict on favorable terms.
As a result, a rigorous study of proxy warfare will be more important than ever. As the world becomes more competitive, it is likely that states will increasingly resort to proxies to fight their rivals. Understanding how to manage such conflicts, while remaining as effective as possible, will be an essential task for policy makers.