Making Sense of Proxy Wars

by Michael A. Innes (Editor)

Public debate over surrogate forces and proxy warfare has been largely dormant since the end of the Cold War. The conventional wisdom has been that with the end of the U.S.- Soviet rivalry, state sources of support for proxy guerrilla, insurgent, and terrorist organizations dried up, forcing them to look to criminal activity to survive and precipitating the growth of dangerously independent and well-resourced militants, mercenaries, and warlords. But in the few years since 2001, a wide range of issues raised to prominence by wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere suggest that armed proxies, and the forces that drive and shape their use, are part of a larger dynamic. From the legacies of the wars in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Kashmir, to the growth of privatized security and military companies, and to increased reliance on intermediaries of all kinds, these surrogate forces bear further study. Making Sense of Proxy Wars is the first book to seriously challenge Cold War assumptions about terrorism and proxy warfare, offering an alternative view of armed surrogates―whether they are private armies, indigenous militias, or unwilling victims―as complex, selfinterested actors on the international stage.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Mikko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Making Sense of Proxy Wars is certainly a timely addition to the field of security studies. However, there is a fairly marked difference in the quality of the chapters and often the work is more "Recounting historical examples of" than "Making sense of". A Conclusions-chapter by the editor, drawing together the themes brought up by the contributors would have been a particularly useful addtion. Still, even with its flaws, the book can be recommended to people with a scholarly interest in the field.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a bit of a jumble of chapters which are all vaguely about proxy wars, however this book isn't really about proxy wars. This book is really about how Western states can outsource violence to non-state actors. This book looks at terrorist organizations, PMSC's and even MNC's. Asks some interesting questions, but doesn't really 'make sense of proxy wars.'