Proxy Warfare and the Future of Conflict

Proxy warfare is a phenomenon usually associated with the Cold War, yet a redefinition of the concept is needed to reflect the nature of conflict in the twenty-first century.

The contemporary dynamics of proxy warfare will make it a significant feature of the character of conflict in the future. Andrew Mumford identifies four major changes in the nature of modern warfare and argues that they point to a potential increase in the engagement of proxy strategies by states: the decreased public and political appetite in the West for large-scale counter-insurgency ‘quagmires’ against a backdrop of a global recession; the rise in prominence an