proxy conflict
Indirect armed struggle
A proxy conflict is a war or dispute where major powers support opposing sides without fighting each other directly.
The supporting nations provide weapons, funding, training, or troops while local or regional forces do the actual fighting: The Cold War produced proxy conflicts across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The term emphasizes how smaller nations or groups become stand-ins for larger geopolitical rivalries.
- surrogateOne acting for another
- Cold WarProlonged East-West standoff
- iron curtainDivider of forged metal
- puppetControlled performing figure
- interventionPurposeful involvement to change course
regime change · spillover · insurgency · militia · guerrilla · arms · funding · covert · plausible deniability · superpower · great power · arms race · theater · buffer · satellite · regime · backing · foreign intervention
proxy conflictpeace
Freedom from disturbance
détente · rapprochement · diplomatic resolution · peace treaty · diplomacy
proxy, conflict, proxies, conflicts, conflicting, conflicted