Proxy Wars: the paradigm shift in the nature of war

Czech political scientist Karl Deutsch defined proxy wars as 'an international conflict between two foreign powers, fought on the soil of a third country; disguised as a conflict over an internal issue in that country; and use some of that country's manpower, resources and territory as a means to achieve predominantly foreign objectives and strategies.

Proxy wars result from a partnership between a patron (a national or non-state actor that is not involved in the complexities of an ongoing conflict) and selected representatives who serve as a link for the patron's finances, training, and arming. . In other words, governments that want to advance their own strategic objectives without directly engaging in brutal and costly war should resort to proxy conflicts.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower has referred to proxy wars as “the world's cheapest insurance” and former Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq as “keeping the pot boiling” in active combat zones, respectively. The term “proxy war” in this context is still based on the idea of indirect participation, when State “A” hires representatives in State “B” to carry out “disruptive missions” in its place. To be sure, proxy battles can be conducted in secret. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the Carter and Reagan administrations responded by equipping, supporting and training the emerging Afghan mujahideen. Another example is the use of Cuban representatives by the Soviet Union during the civil war in Angola, which began in 1974.

Without pre-existing regional conflicts that could have been taken advantage of, many of the indirect conflicts of the Cold War (such as the indirect US presence in Afghanistan during the 1980s) and later (such as the current Iranian proxy involvement against the American army in Iraq and Yemen against Saudi Arabia) would not have taken place. Representatives obviously have their own objectives, which makes it difficult to manage the bond between donor and representative during a dispute, particularly when representatives begin to feel more autonomous or form their own interpretations of the employer's strategic objectives. Therefore, proxy battles are complicated for all parties involved.

The emergence of a modern "Vietnam syndrome", which has reduced public and political desire in the developed world to conduct massive counterinsurgency and unnecessary wars in the context of a global credit crisis; the growth in visibility and importance of Private Military Companies (PMCs) in the current war; and the increasing importance of cyberspace as a platform from which to conduct war are current and significant changes in the character of contemporary combat and international relations. (Vietnam syndrome is a phrase used to describe the impact of domestic controversy over the Vietnam War. It was first used by Ronald Reagan as a way to express his anti-war views.)

Frank Hoffman was the first to suggest the concept of hybrid warfare, a military approach that combines political warfare with regular combat, unconventional warfare, cyber warfare, electronic warfare, and other influence tactics, including deceptive media, diplomacy, legal warfare and external interference in polls.

Taking into account the flow of events and emerging geopolitical realities, hybrid warfare will definitely be above war tactics, tools that will be used in future conflicts by political arch-rivals against each other with their own sponsored, carved and affiliated representatives as a front. -final tool.