Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars
1st Edition
Published on 27. June 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
456 pages
978-1-032-00414-3 (ISBN)
Description
This Handbook is the first volume to comprehensively examine the challenges, intricacies, and dynamics of proxy wars, in their various facets.
The volume aims to capture the significantly growing interest in the topic at a critical juncture when wars of many guises are becoming multifaceted proxy wars. Most often, proxy wars have wide-ranging implications for international security and are, therefore, a critically important subject of inquiry. The Handbook seeks to understand and explain proxy wars conceptually, theoretically, and empirically, with a focus on the numerous policy challenges and dilemmas they pose. To do so, it presents a multi- and interdisciplinary assessment of proxy wars focused on the causes, dynamics, and processes underpinning the phenomenon, across time and space and a multitude of actors throughout human history. The Handbook is divided into six thematic sections, as follows:
Part I: Approaches to the Study of Proxy Wars
Part II: Historical Perspectives on Proxy Wars
Part III: Actors in Proxy Wars
Part IV: Dynamics of Proxy Wars
Part V: Case Studies of Proxy Wars
Part VI: The Future of Proxy Wars
By bringing together many leading scholars in a synthesis of expertise, this Handbook provides a unique and rigorous account of research into proxy war, which so far has been largely missing from the debate.
This book will be of much interest to students of strategic studies, security studies, foreign policy, political violence, and International Relations.
The volume aims to capture the significantly growing interest in the topic at a critical juncture when wars of many guises are becoming multifaceted proxy wars. Most often, proxy wars have wide-ranging implications for international security and are, therefore, a critically important subject of inquiry. The Handbook seeks to understand and explain proxy wars conceptually, theoretically, and empirically, with a focus on the numerous policy challenges and dilemmas they pose. To do so, it presents a multi- and interdisciplinary assessment of proxy wars focused on the causes, dynamics, and processes underpinning the phenomenon, across time and space and a multitude of actors throughout human history. The Handbook is divided into six thematic sections, as follows:
Part I: Approaches to the Study of Proxy Wars
Part II: Historical Perspectives on Proxy Wars
Part III: Actors in Proxy Wars
Part IV: Dynamics of Proxy Wars
Part V: Case Studies of Proxy Wars
Part VI: The Future of Proxy Wars
By bringing together many leading scholars in a synthesis of expertise, this Handbook provides a unique and rigorous account of research into proxy war, which so far has been largely missing from the debate.
This book will be of much interest to students of strategic studies, security studies, foreign policy, political violence, and International Relations.
Reviews / Votes
'The Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars will be the go-to guide for understanding the many facets of proxy wars today and of those in the past. Assaf Moghadam, Vladimir Rauta, and Michel Wyss have brought together a wide range of established and emerging experts who assess the problem from multiple perspectives and offer numerous insights to one of today's most pressing challenges.'Daniel Byman, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA
'A definitive compendium of essays on proxy warfare from the historical, legal, political and theoretical perspectives, The Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars will doubtless prove to be the seminal work in a field whose time has come. Together these articles build an indispensable foundation not only for understanding the many-faceted phenomenon of proxy warfare but for anticipating the future challenges it may pose.'
Karen Greenberg, Fordham University, USA
'Fighting the conflicts of others is a phenomenon that has accompanied humanity throughout the ages. This wonderful collection offers readers a comprehensive overview, as well as thought-provoking insights into the past, present and future of proxy wars. With their specific logics, relationships and processes, proxy wars, as the authors rightly argue, deserve to be considered as a mature field of academic investigation. This handbook provides a benchmark, and therefore deserves high praise.'
Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Professor of International Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands
'.. the Handbook provides a comprehensive toolbox for readers to make an informed judgement about whether the war in Ukraine (or any other conflict) is a proxy war and what that means.'
Giuseppe Spatafora, University of Oxford
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Academic, Postgraduate, Professional, and Undergraduate Advanced
Illustrations
21 s/w Abbildungen, 1 s/w Photographie bzw. Rasterbild, 20 s/w Zeichnungen, 9 s/w Tabellen
9 Tables, black and white; 20 Line drawings, black and white; 1 Halftones, black and white; 21 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 171 mm
Width: 242 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
794 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-00414-3 (9781032004143)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Assaf Moghadam | Vladimir Rauta | Michel Wyss
Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars
E-Book
07/2023
1st Edition
Routledge
€67.49
Available for download
Assaf Moghadam | Vladimir Rauta | Michel Wyss
Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars
Book
07/2023
1st Edition
Routledge
€334.60
Shipment within 10-20 days
Assaf Moghadam | Vladimir Rauta | Michel Wyss
Routledge Handbook of Proxy Wars
E-Book
07/2023
1st Edition
Routledge
€67.49
Available for download
Persons
Assaf Moghadam is the Dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at Reichman University. He holds fellowships at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point and the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School.
Vladimir Rauta is a lecturer in politics and international relations with the School of Politics, Economics, and International Relations at the University of Reading, United Kingdom.
Michel Wyss is a scientific assistant at the Military Academy at ETH Zurich and a doctoral candidate at Leiden University. He also serves as a specialist officer in the Swiss Armed Forces.
Vladimir Rauta is a lecturer in politics and international relations with the School of Politics, Economics, and International Relations at the University of Reading, United Kingdom.
Michel Wyss is a scientific assistant at the Military Academy at ETH Zurich and a doctoral candidate at Leiden University. He also serves as a specialist officer in the Swiss Armed Forces.
Content
1. The Study of Proxy Wars PART I: APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PROXY WARS 2. Causal Logics of Proxy Wars 3. Quantitative Approaches to Proxy Wars 4. Formal Theory and Proxy Wars 5. State Sponsorship of Terrorism and Proxy Wars 6. Covert Action and Proxy Wars 7. International Law and Proxy Wars 8. Politics, Positionality, and Colonial Persistence in Proxy Wars PART II: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON PROXY WARS 9. Proxy Wars in History: A Longue Duree Perspective 10. Proxy Wars in the Interwar Period: The Spanish Civil War 1. Proxy Wars and the Cold War: An East-West Perspective 12. The Historical Evolution of Proxy Wars: 1945-2022 PART III: ACTORS IN PROXY WARS 13. Militias and Proxy Wars 14. Tribes and Proxy Wars 15. Organized Crime and Proxy Wars 16. Diasporas and Proxy Wars PART IV: DYNAMICS OF PROXY WARS 17. Controlling Proxies: An Analytical Framework 18. Engaging Proxies: A U.S. Perspective 19. Arming Proxies: Ethical and Legal Dilemmas 20. Confronting Proxies 21. Proxy War Termination 22. Consequences of Proxy Wars PART V: CASE STUDIES OF PROXY WARS 23. Proxy Wars in Africa 24. Proxy Wars in the Horn of Africa 25. Proxy Wars in the Middle East 26. Iran's Proxy War Strategy 27. Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units 28. Proxy War Dynamics in Yemen 29. Proxy Wars in the Post-Soviet Space 30. Proxy Wars in South Asia 31. Proxy Wars in Latin America PART VI: THE FUTURE OF PROXY WARS 32. Proxy Wars and Cyberspace 33. Proxy Wars and Strategic Competition 34. The Return of Great Power Proxy Wars?