Surrogate Warfare: The Transformation of War in the Twenty-First Century

by Andreas Krieg, Jean-Marc Rickli

Surrogate Warfare explores the emerging phenomenon of "surrogate warfare" in twenty-first century conflict. The popular notion of war is that it is fought en masse by the people of one side versus the other. But the reality today is that both state and non-state actors are increasingly looking to shift the burdens of war to surrogates. Surrogate warfare describes a patron's outsourcing of the strategic, operational, or tactical burdens of warfare, in whole or in part, to human and/or technological substitutes in order to minimize the costs of war. This phenomenon ranges from arming rebel groups, to the use of armed drones, to cyber propaganda. Krieg and Rickli bring old, related practices such as war by mercenary or proxy under this new overarching concept. Apart from analyzing the underlying sociopolitical drivers that trigger patrons to substitute or supplement military action, this book looks at the intrinsic trade-offs between substitutions and control that shapes the relationship between patron and surrogate. Surrogate Warfare will be essential reading for anyone studying contemporary conflict.

Genres: War, Military Fiction, Politics, History, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2019

Reviews

[Kenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explains the complexity of surrogate usage worldwide, with special attention to Iran as a sponsor. Extensive citation provides great resources to explore primary sources and works on theory, as well as case law that demonstrates the strategic repercussions of human and technological methods of surrogacy by sponsor nations.

[Sevim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surrogate Warfare offers a look at the phenomenon of nation states farming out military and security responsibilities to surrogates. States increasingly look to these surrogates to carry the risks of warfare rather than put their own forces in danger. These can be private companies, rebel groups, gangs, or other governments - a concept of proxy warfare.

The book offers a fresh perspective on contemporary warfare with analysis on technology, ethics, and the current geostrategic environment in the world. A new type of war with technological surrogacy such as cyber warfare and autonomous weapons. With the increasing impact of social media, Artificial Intelligence, and other new technologies more and more states are faced with polarization, hate, and manipulation of the public.

[Kenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explains the complexity of surrogate usage worldwide, with special attention to Iran as a sponsor. Extensive citation provides great resources to explore primary sources and works on theory, as well as case law that demonstrates the strategic repercussions of human and technological methods of surrogacy by sponsor nations.

[Eric Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good book, that brought up the current conflicts that the book topic is on. Plus it had a bit on Iran, which was an eye-opener. I found the book well researched and didn't bore you with all the details. It kept me interested in the topic and was pretty much down-to-earth as far as prose went.