Proxy war

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Soviet military advisers planning operations during the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002), a proxy conflict involving the USSR and United States Soviet advisers planning military operations Angola.jpg
Soviet military advisers planning operations during the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), a proxy conflict involving the USSR and United States

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 from a third party country. Acting either as a nation-state government or as a conventional force, a proxy belligerent acts in behalf of a third-party state sponsor. [1] A proxy war is characterised by a direct, long-term, geopolitical relationship between the third-party sponsor states and their client states and non-state clients, [2] thus the political sponsorship becomes military sponsorship when the third-party powers fund the soldiers and their matériel to equip the belligerent proxy-army to launch and fight and sustain a war to victory, and government power. [2]

Contents

History

During classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, many non-state proxies were external parties that were introduced into an internal conflict and aligned themselves with a belligerent to gain influence and to further their own interests in the region. [3] [4] Proxies could be introduced by an external or local power and most commonly took the form of irregular armies which were used to achieve their sponsor's goals in a contested region. [4] Some medieval states like the Byzantine Empire used proxy warfare as a foreign-policy tool by deliberately cultivating intrigue among hostile rivals and then backing them when they went to war with each other. [2] Other states regarded proxy wars as merely a useful extension of a pre-existing conflict, such as France and England during the Hundred Years' War, both of which initiated a longstanding practice of supporting privateers, which targeted the other's merchant shipping. [5] France used England's turmoil of the Wars of the Roses from their victory as a proxy, siding with the Lancastrians against the Yorkists who were backed by the Burgundian State. The Ottoman Empire likewise used the Barbary pirates as proxies to harass Western European powers in the Mediterranean Sea. [6]

Frequent application of the term "proxy war" indicates its prominent place in academic research on international relations. Distinct implementations of soft power and hard power have proved to be unsuccessful in recent years. Accordingly, great failures in classic wars increased the tendency to use proxy wars. [7] Since the early twentieth century, proxy wars have most commonly taken the form of states assuming the role of sponsors to non-state proxies and essentially using them as fifth columns to undermine adversarial powers. [2] That type of proxy warfare includes external support for a faction engaged in a civil war, terrorists, national-liberation movements, and insurgent groups, or assistance to a national revolt against foreign occupation. [2] For example, the British government partially organized and instigated the Arab Revolt to undermine the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. [3] Many proxy wars began assuming a distinctive ideological dimension after the Spanish Civil War, which pitted the fascist political ideology of Italy and Nazi Germany against the communist ideology of the Soviet Union without involving these states in open warfare with each other. [8] Sponsors of both sides also used the Spanish conflict as a proving ground for their own weapons and battlefield tactics. [8]

During the Cold War, proxy warfare was motivated by fears that an armed conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union by conventional warfare would result in nuclear holocaust, which rendered the use of ideological proxies a safer way to conduct hostilities. [9] The Soviet government found that supporting parties antagonistic to the U.S. and other Western nations was a cost-effective way to combat NATO's influence compared to direct military engagement. [10] Besides, the proliferation of televised media and its impact on public perception made the U.S. public especially susceptible to war-weariness and being skeptical of risking life abroad. [11] That encouraged the American practice of arming insurgent forces, such as the funnelling of supplies to the mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War. [12] Other examples of proxy war include the Korean War [13] the Vietnam War, [14] and the Russo-Ukrainian War. [15] [16]

Abstract

The governments of some nations, particularly liberal democracies, may choose to engage in proxy warfare (despite their military superiority) if most of their citizens oppose declaring or entering a conventional war. [17] That featured prominently in US strategy following the Vietnam War because of the so-called "Vietnam Syndrome" of extreme war weariness among the American population. That was also a significant factor in motivating the US to enter conflicts such as the Syrian Civil War by proxy actors after a series of costly drawn-out direct engagements in the Middle East spurred a recurrence of war weariness, the "War on Terror syndrome." [17]

Nations may also resort to proxy warfare to avoid potential negative international reactions from allied nations, profitable trading partners, or intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations. That is especially significant when standing peace treaties, acts of the alliance or other international agreements ostensibly forbid direct warfare. Breaking such agreements could lead to a variety of negative consequences due to either negative international reaction (see above), punitive provisions listed in the prior agreement, or retaliatory action by the other parties and their allies.

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In some cases, nations may be motivated to engage in proxy warfare because of financial concerns: supporting irregular troops, insurgents, non-state actors, or less-advanced allied militaries (often with obsolete or surplus equipment) can be significantly cheaper than deploying national armed forces, and the proxies usually bear the brunt of casualties and economic damage resulting from prolonged conflict. [18]

Another common motivating factor is the existence of a security dilemma. A nation may use military intervention to install a more favorable government in a third-party state. Rival nations may perceive the intervention as a weakened position to their own security and may respond by attempting to undermine such efforts, often by backing parties favorable to their own interests (such as those directly or indirectly under their control, sympathetic to their cause, or ideologically aligned). In that case, if one or both rivals come to believe that their favored faction is at a disadvantage, they will often respond by escalating military and/or financial support. [19] If their counterpart(s), perceiving a material threat or desiring to avoid the appearance of weakness or defeat, follow suit, a proxy war ensues between the two powers. That was a major factor in many of the proxy wars during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, [20] as well as in the ongoing series of conflicts between Saudi Arabia and Iran, especially in Yemen and Syria. [21] [22] [23]

Effects

Proxy wars can have a huge impact, especially on the local area. A proxy war with significant effects occurred between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Vietnam War.[ citation needed ] Operation Rolling Thunder, a U.S bombing campaign in North Vietnam destroyed significant amounts of infrastructure. Many bombs were also dropped on North Vietnamese supply routes in Cambodia and Laos. [24] Equally, if not more, significant was the Soviet–Afghan War, which saw the U.S. fund the Afghan mujahideen against the invading Soviet forces (see Operation Cyclone). This war cost hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars, [25] bankrupting the Soviet Union and contributing to its collapse. [10]

The conflict in the Middle East between Saudi Arabia and Iran is another example of the destructive impact of proxy wars. Since 2003, nearly 500,000 have died in the Iraqi conflict. [26] Since 2011, more than 500,000 have died in the Syrian Civil War. [27] Over 377,000 people had died in the Yemeni Civil War by early 2022. [28] In the war in Afghanistan, more than 176,000 were killed between 2001 and 2021. [29] In Pakistan, more than 57,000 have been killed since 2003. [30]

In general, lengths, intensities, and scales of armed conflicts are often greatly increased if belligerents' capabilities are augmented by external support. Belligerents are often less likely to engage in diplomatic negotiations, peace talks are less likely to bear fruit, and damage to infrastructure can be many times greater. [31] [32]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle East and North Africa</span> Geographic region

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region. While still referring to most of the Middle East and North Africa together, it is widely considered to be a more defined and apolitical alternative to the grouping of countries that is known as the Greater Middle East, which comprises the bulk of the Muslim world.

A cold war is a state of conflict between nations that does not involve direct military action but is pursued primarily through economic and political actions, propaganda, acts of espionage or proxy wars waged by surrogates. This term is most commonly used to refer to the American-Soviet Cold War of 1947–1989. The surrogates are typically states that are satellites of the conflicting nations, i.e., nations allied to them or under their political influence. Opponents in a cold war will often provide economic or military aid, such as weapons, tactical support or military advisors, to lesser nations involved in conflicts with the opposing country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States foreign policy in the Middle East</span> Activities and objectives of the United States in the Middle East

United States foreign policy in the Middle East has its roots in the early 19th-century Tripolitan War that occurred shortly after the 1776 establishment of the United States as an independent sovereign state, but became much more expansive in the aftermath of World War II. With the goal of preventing the Soviet Union from gaining influence in the region during the Cold War, American foreign policy saw the deliverance of extensive support in various forms to anti-communist and anti-Soviet regimes; among the top priorities for the U.S. with regards to this goal was its support for the State of Israel against its Soviet-backed neighbouring Arab countries during the peak of the Arab–Israeli conflict. The U.S. also came to replace the United Kingdom as the main security patron for Saudi Arabia as well as the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf in the 1960s and 1970s in order to ensure, among other goals, a stable flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. As of 2023, the U.S. has diplomatic relations with every country in the Middle East except for Iran, with whom relations were severed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Syria, with whom relations were suspended in 2012 following the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran–United States relations after 1979</span> Overview of Iranian–American relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran

Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been embroiled in tense relations with the U.S. and its allies. Following the hostage crisis, both countries severed relations. Since then, both countries have been involved in numerous direct confrontations, diplomatic incidents, and proxy wars throughout the Middle East, which has caused the tense nature of the relationship between the two to be called an 'international crisis'. Both countries have often accused each other of breaking international law on several occasions. The U.S. has often accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and of illegally maintaining a nuclear program, as well as using strong rhetoric against Israel, of which Iran has questioned its legitimacy and its right to exist while supporting Hamas, an antizionist terrorist group in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Iran has often accused the U.S. of human rights violations and of meddling in their affairs, especially within the Iranian Democracy Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russia–Saudi Arabia relations</span> Bilateral relations

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Mujahideen, or Mujahidin, is the plural form of mujahid, an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in jihad, interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the community (ummah).

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The Arab Cold War was a political rivalry in the Arab world from the early 1950s to the late 1970s, as part of the wider Cold War. It is generally accepted that the beginning of the Arab Cold War is marked by the Egyptian revolution of 1952, which eventually led to Gamal Abdel Nasser becoming president of Egypt in 1956. Thereafter, newly formed Arab republics, defined by revolutionary secular nationalism and inspired by Nasser's Egypt, engaged in political rivalries with conservative traditionalist Arab monarchies, led by Saudi Arabia. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 is widely seen as the end of this period of internal conflict and rivalry. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was installed as the leader of Iran's theocratic government. A new era of Arab-Iranian tensions followed, overshadowing the bitterness of intra-Arab strife.

Hybrid warfare is a theory of military strategy, first proposed by Frank Hoffman, which employs political warfare and blends conventional warfare, irregular warfare, and cyberwarfare with other influencing methods, such as fake news, diplomacy, lawfare, regime change, and foreign electoral intervention. By combining kinetic operations with subversive efforts, the aggressor intends to avoid attribution or retribution. The concept of hybrid warfare has been criticized by a number of academics and practitioners due to its alleged vagueness, its disputed constitutive elements, and its alleged historical distortions.

The Axis of Resistance is an informal Iranian-led political and military coalition in West Asia and North Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yemeni civil war (2014–present)</span> Ongoing civil war in the state of Yemen

The Yemeni civil war is an ongoing multilateral civil war that began in late 2014 mainly between the Rashad al-Alimi-led Presidential Leadership Council and the Mahdi al-Mashat-led Supreme Political Council, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war</span> Saudi war against Houthis in Yemen launched in 2015

On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched an intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 by Houthi insurgents during the Yemeni Civil War. Efforts by the United Nations to facilitate a power sharing arrangement under a new transitional government collapsed, leading to escalating conflict between government forces, Houthi rebels, and other armed groups, which culminated in Hadi fleeing to Saudi Arabia shortly before it began military operations in the country.

International reactions to the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen of 2015 were mixed. Most other Arab League nations and several Western governments backed the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition, but other governments warned against an escalation in the violent situation in Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict</span> Indirect conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia

Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in an ongoing struggle for influence in the Middle East and other regions of the Muslim world. The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in nearby conflicts, including the civil wars in Syria and Yemen; and disputes in Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar, and Iraq. The struggle also extends to disputes or broader competition in other countries globally including in West, North and East Africa, South, Central, Southeast Asia, the Balkans, and the Caucasus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liwa Zainebiyoun</span> Pakistani Shia militia

The Followers of Zainab Brigade, also known as the Zainebiyoun Brigade or Zainebiyoun Division, is a Pakistani Shia Khomeinist militant group actively engaged in the Syrian Civil War. It draws recruits mainly from Shia Pakistanis living in Iran, with some also Shia Muslim communities living in various regions of Pakistan.

Soviet Middle Eastern foreign policy during the Cold War was shaped by two primary concerns, as perceived by the Soviet leadership. The first key priority was ensuring the security interests of the Soviet Union itself, mainly by countering American presence in the region, with the second concern revolving around the ideological struggle between communism and capitalism. During the Cold War, the USSR first started to maintain a proactive foreign policy in the Middle East as a whole in the mid-1950s. The rise of Arab Nationalism, which was a highly anti-Western movement, enabled the Soviet Union to form alliances with various Arab leaders, a notable example being Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt. In order to sustain its sphere of influence in the region, the USSR provided military and economic assistance to pro-Soviet states and exploited regional conflicts and rivalries, such as between Arab states and Israel, to its advantage. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 would result in a power vacuum in the Middle East and contributed to the rise of American hegemony in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict</span> Diplomatic issue between Qatar and Saudi Arabia

The Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict refers to the ongoing struggle for regional influence between Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), both of which are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is sometimes called the New Arab Cold War. Bilateral relations have been especially strained since the beginning of the Arab Spring, that left a power vacuum both states sought to fill, with Qatar being supportive of the revolutionary wave and Saudi Arabia opposing it. Both states are allies of the United States, and have avoided direct conflict with one another.

During the Yemeni civil war, Saudi Arabia led an Arab coalition of nine nations from the Middle East and parts of Africa in response to calls from the internationally recognized pro-Saudi president of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi for military support after he was ousted by the Houthi movement due to economic and political grievances, and fled to Saudi Arabia.

References

  1. ↑ Osmańczyk, Jan Edmund (2002). Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements. Abingdon: Routledge Books. p. 1869. ISBN   978-0415939201.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Hughes, Geraint (2014). My Enemy's Enemy: Proxy Warfare in International Politics. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press. pp. 5, 12–13. ISBN   978-1845196271.
  3. 1 2 Williams, Brian Glyn (2012). Innes, Michael (ed.). Making Sense of Proxy Wars: States, Surrogates & the Use of Force. Washington DC: Potomac Books. pp. 61–63. ISBN   978-1-59797-230-7.
  4. 1 2 Carr, Mike (2016). France, John; Rogers, Clifford; De Vries, Kelly (eds.). Journal of Medieval Military History, Volume 10. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. pp. 163–166. ISBN   978-1-78327-130-6.
  5. ↑ Heebøll-Holm, Thomas (2013). Ports, Piracy and Maritime War: Piracy in the English Channel and the Atlantic, c. 1280-c. 1330. Leiden: Brill. p. 8. ISBN   978-9004235700.
  6. ↑ Watson, William (2003). Tricolor and Crescent: France and the Islamic World. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Books. pp. 17–19. ISBN   978-0275974701.
  7. ↑ S. A. Hashemi and M. Sahrapeyma, “Proxy war and US’s smart power strategy (The case of Syria, 2011-2016),” Q. J. Polit. Stud. Islam. World, vol. 6, no. 24, p. 1, 2018. http://psiw.journals.ikiu.ac.ir/article_1351.html
  8. 1 2 Axelrod, Alan (1997). The Real History of the Cold War: A New Look at the Past. New York: Sterling Publishers. p.  20. ISBN   978-1402763021.
  9. ↑ Wilde, Robert. "Mutually Assured Destruction." About Education. About.com, n.d. Web. 23 April 2015. Archived 5 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  10. 1 2 Prof CJ. "Ep. 0014: Fall of the Soviet Empire." Prof CJ, 21 July 2014. MP3 file.
  11. ↑ Curtis, Anthony R. "Mass Media Influence on Society." The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 23 June 2012. PDF file.
  12. ↑ The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., n.d. Web. 23 April 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1499983/Soviet-invasion-of-Afghanistan Archived 29 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine >.
  13. ↑ "The Korean War, 1950–1953". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Vietnam War History". History.com. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "It's time to stop pretending what's happening in Ukraine is anything other than a US proxy war". The Independent. 22 December 2022.
  16. ↑ "Is the U.S. in a proxy war with Russia?". The Washington Post. 18 April 2023.
  17. 1 2 Mumford, Andrew (1 April 2013). "Proxy Warfare and the Future of Conflict". The RUSI Journal. 158 (2): 40–46. doi: 10.1080/03071847.2013.787733 . ISSN   0307-1847. S2CID   153479115.
  18. ↑ "War on the cheap?: assessing the costs and benefits of proxy war". repository.library.georgetown.edu. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  19. ↑ Jervis, Robert (January 1978). "Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma" (PDF). World Politics. 30 (2): 167–214. doi:10.2307/2009958. hdl: 2027/uc1.31158011478350 . JSTOR   2009958. S2CID   154923423. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  20. ↑ "How to stop the fighting, sometimes". The Economist. ISSN   0013-0613. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  21. ↑ "Iran and Saudi Arabia's cold war is making the Middle East even more dangerous". Vox. 30 March 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  22. ↑ Bednarz, Dieter; Reuter, Christoph; Zand, Bernhard (3 April 2015). "Proxy War in Yemen: Saudi Arabia and Iran Vie for Regional Supremacy". Spiegel Online. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  23. ↑ "Saudi Arabia, Iran and the 'Great Game' in Yemen". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  24. ↑ "Operation Rolling Thunder." History. A&E Television Networks, LLC., n.d. Web. 28 April 2015. Archived 8 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ↑ "The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. Response, 1978–1980." U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. U.S. Department of State, 31 October 2013. Web. 28 April 2015. Archived 2 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ↑ Sheridan, Kerry. "War-related deaths near 500,000 in Iraq." Your Middle East. Your Middle East, 16 October 2013. Web. 28 April 2015. Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ↑ Total death toll | Over 606,000 people killed across Syria since the beginning of the “Syrian Revolution”, including 495,000 documented by SOHR
  28. ↑ "Yemen: Why is the war there getting more violent?". BBC News. 14 April 2023.
  29. ↑ "Human and Budgetary Costs to Date of the U.S. War in Afghanistan, 2001–2022 | Figures | Costs of War". The Costs of War. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  30. ↑ "Fatalities in Terrorist Violence in Pakistan 2003–2015." SATP. SATP, 26 April 2015. Web. 28 April 2015. Archived 7 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ↑ "Why Proxy Wars in the Middle East Are (Probably) Here to Stay". Political Violence @ a Glance. 27 August 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  32. ↑ Balcells, L.; Kalyvas, S. N. (1 January 2014). "Does Warfare Matter? Severity, Duration, and Outcomes of Civil Wars". Journal of Conflict Resolution. 58 (8): 1390–1418. doi:10.1177/0022002714547903. hdl: 2072/205395 . S2CID   220536755.

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