Proxy Wars

Since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, it has become a magnet for many countries and organization that, concerned for their own interests, cannot keep their hands out of the pot. As a result, Syria has regressed about six decades, to the period when its weakness left it prey to the influence of both regional and international powers.  Of all the countries that have taken vigorous action against the regime of Bashar Assad, Saudi Arabia stands out. King Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz was the first senior Arab leader to break the silence and condemn the Syrian president’s repression of the protests. Abdullah was also the first Arab leader to call openly for arming the Syrian opposition.
The present study analyzes the relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria and examines the kingdom’s motives for getting involved in an internal Syrian war. I will review the ties between the two countries, from the advent of the present regime in Syria until the zenith of the civil war, looking at both official relations as well as the indirect messages conveyed through various channels. I will also look at the history of the Saudi intervention inside Syria and the means it has employed for that.

This thesis applies the concept of religious (national) identity to the cases of Saudi Arabia, Iran and their proxy allies-state and non-state actors-in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. The aim was to show that in the Middle East, Sunni and Shiite affiliations matter in the relationship between the regional powers and respective proxies, as opposing to realist statement that alliances, conflicts and political developments are only governed by pragmatic power interests. Additionally, the work examines whether religious national identities have impact on the dynamics of proxy conflicts. Overall, the objective was to establish comprehensive image of how ideational/constructivist and pragmatic/realist factors work in combination to influence alliances, enmities and conflicts in the Middle East. Using qualitative methods of research, religious (national) identities of Saudi Arabia, Iran and their allies in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen were constructed so as to create ideational and realist points of departure, and then interlinked to show how convergence of religious identities helps in creating durable alliances if used in targeted manner as a strategic tool which can help safeguard national interests. The work shows notable differences in the use of this tool between Saudi Arabia and Iran, suggesting that it may influence foreign policy successes and failures. Additionally, support of religious convergence between Saudi Arabia, Iran and their respective proxies has direct impact on the dynamic of conflicts and political developments, as "sectarianization" affects formerly secular causes.

This study analyzes the implications of the Syria policies of the United States, Russia and China with regard to the international system within the framework of the great power politics. In this context, the main research question of the study is as follows: What are the Syria Crisis' implications and transformative effects for the international system? The study has two fundamental arguments: First, the geopolitical struggle involving the United States, Russia and China begun after the Syria crisis turned to a proxy war between great powers. Second, this struggle also transforms the international system. The Sino-Russian dual campaign to protect the principle of state sovereignty and the principle of non-intervention of the Westphalian system against the unilateral development of intervention law of the United States in the international system. Özet Bu makalenin temel araştırma sorusu, Suriye krizinin uluslararası sisteme yönelik yansımaları ve dönüştürücü etkileri nelerdir olarak belirlenmiştir. Araştırmada iki temel argüman geliştirilmiştir: Birincisi, Suriye krizinin büyük güçler arasında vekalet savaşına dönüşmesiyle ABD, Rusya ve Çin arasında yürütülen bir jeopolitik mücadele başlamıştır. Suriye krizi üzerinden büyük güçlerin küresel nüfuz mücadelesi realist büyük güç politikasını tekrar ortaya çıkarmıştır. Suriye krizi üzerinden Ortadoğu'da ABD, Rusya ve Çin, nüfuz alanlarını yeniden belirlemeye başlamışlardır. Böylece Suriye, 21. yüzyılın yeni satranç tahtası olmuştur. İkincisi, bu mücadelenin uluslararası sistemi dönüştürmesidir. ABD'nin tek taraflı uluslararası sistemde müdahale hukukunu geliştirmesine karşı Rusya ve Çin ikilisi Vestfalyan sistemin egemenlik ve diğer devletlerin iç işlerine müdahale etmeme ilkelerini koruma yönünde mücadele vermektedir.

Jammu and Kashmir, a region in the northern part of the Indian sub-continent, is globally known for the battle of ownership which has been going on for seven decades. Once a single entity before the partition of British India into Pakistan and India in 1947, today Jammu & Kashmir is separated into three politically different regions with one administered by Pakistan, one by India, and one by China. The ‘war’ over Jammu & Kashmir is a multifaceted one which consists of political as well as social aspects, with the issue of religion being the most predominant. The State of Pakistan has used the religious sentiment of the people in the region, most of whom are Muslims, to instigate them against Indian rule.

This study examines the Iran-Saudi rivalry within the context of the changing balance of power in the Middle East. The main research questions were determined to be what the dynamics of the Iran-Saudi rivalry are and what type of role Turkey may play within the rivalry between the two countries. Three essential arguments were developed within this context. The first argument is that the regional balances were broken by the US occupation of Iraq in 2003 and by the 'Arab Spring' process resulting in the regional hegemony rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The second one is that Iran desired to utilize the Arab Spring process as an opportunity to become a regional hegemonic power. On the other hand, the policy of the US to withdraw from and leave the Middle East to its allies Israel and Saudi Arabia caused King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud to adopt a regional leadership policy. Within this framework, the study argued that the rivalry to become the new regional hegemon of the Middle East re-surged between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two historic rival powers of the Middle East. The third argument is that the rivalry between the two countries was mainly in the form of a proxy war but resulted in the fact that the balance of power struggle in the region reached to the proxy war balance as no country managed to outcompete the other.

Öz

Bu araştırmada Ortadoğu'daki İran-Suudi rekabeti, değişen güç dengeleri bağlamında incelenmiştir. Makalenin temel araştırma sorusu, İran-Suudi rekabetinin dinamikleri nelerdir ve iki ülke arasındaki rekabette Türkiye'nin rolü ne olabilir olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu bağlamda üç temel argüman geliştirilmiştir: Birincisi, ABD'nin 2003 yılında Irak işgali ve 'Arap Baharı' sürecinin bölgesel dengeleri bozduğu ve iki ülke arasında bölgesel hegemon olma rekabetine yol açtığı tezi geliştirilmiştir. İkincisi, İran, Arap Baharı sürecini bölgesel hegemon güç olmak için bir fırsat olarak kullanmak istemiştir. Öte yandan ABD'nin

Öz İlk çağlardan beri devletler arası çatışmaları tanımlamak için kullanılan savaş kavramı, günümüzde geleneksel anlamının çok daha ötesinde durumları ifade etmektedir. Uluslararası ilişkilerin ruhuna uygun bir şekilde evrilen savaş olgunun günümüzdeki türlerinden bir tanesi de vekâlet savaşlarıdır. Soğuk Savaş döneminde sıkça örneklerine rastlanılan vekâlet savaşlarının günümüzde Suriye'deki çatışma ve iç savaş sürecinin bir boyutunda yaşandığı açık bir şekilde görülmektedir. Bu noktada vekâlet savaşlarına başvuran aktörlerin başındaysa ABD gelmektedir. Suriye politikasını vekil aktörler üzerinden sürdürmeye çalışan ABD yönetimi, bu noktada tercihini terör örgütlerinden yana kullanmaktadır. Konjonktürel olarak ekonomik, politik ve psikolojik maliyetleri azaltsa dahi söz konusu ilişkinin uzun vadeli olmadığı ve şartların değişmesine bağlı geçici ve taktiksel bir işbirliği olduğu açıktır. Anahtar Kelimeler: ABD, Suriye, YPG, Vekâlet Savaşı, Terör Örgütleri.

Os referentes do conceito de proxy war (ou uma guerra de 'substituição', ou 'por delegação' ou 'procuração') tendem a ser conflitos bélicos instigados por uma potência -por via de regra média-grande, mas podendo não o ser -que nela não participa de maneira directa. Está por isso nele implícita a ideia de que aquilo que está em causa é a 'representação' dos interesses de uma potência por forças exteriores que dela não constituem parcela intrínseca. Ao utilizar a expressão proxy war, aludimos assim por norma a guerras nas quais os oponentes utilizam partes terceiras, sejam elas forças governamentais, mercenários, ou actores não-estaduais, como seus substitutos na condução material do conflito.

This article examines contemporary modes of American warfare. It posits the concept of “vicarious warfare” as a means of capturing prominent patterns in warfighting approaches. Although rooted in long-standing traditions of military practice, vicarious warfare is sufficiently novel as to be identifiable as a distinct phenomenon. The precise manifestation or combination of vicarious methods vary according to the specific circumstances and political contexts prevailing in different theaters. However, America’s general preference is to fight its wars by delegating tasks to proxies and limiting exposure of its own military to danger. Where U.S. forces are employed directly, this takes place largely in the shadows. Such approaches have clear attractions, offer undoubted tactical advantages, and permit successive administrations to maintain a persistent tempo of operations that evades rigorous democratic scrutiny. Yet, prominent cases and numerous studies suggest that vicarious warfare has a high potential to generate counterproductive effects and significant strategic harm.

States engage in proxy war for numerous reasons, the most important of which is the avoidance of direct conflict, especially with a state of greater or equal strength. This strategic rationale has gone unquestioned for some time, as the logic of its underlying assumption seems sound. As a result, few analyses of the costs and benefits of proxy war exist, and none directly address what is perhaps the most important cost-benefit question one can ask about such conflicts: Does the strategic use of proxy war actually decrease the chances of direct kinetic action between two states? Additionally, it is commonly assumed that the Cold War remained cold because of the use of proxies; but is this actually the case? To answer these questions, this study uses quantitative methods to analyze an original dataset on relations between the Great Powers from 1816 to 2010. This study finds that proxy wars do not have a statistically significant effect on direct wars, but that the possession of nuclear weapons increases the chances of proxy war. These findings cast doubt on the notion that proxy wars decrease the likelihood of direct wars between two Great Powers. In addition, I present an original argument for including both state and non-state actors in definitions of proxies.

ÖZ Günümüze kadar savaşlarda çok belirgin saflar, net üniformalar, net taarruz çıkış hatları ve savunma hatları hatta buna göre düzenlenmiş konseptler ve doktrinler yer almıştır. Ancak içinde bulunduğumuz yüzyılda bu hatlar ve stratejiler aşınmakta, saflar gittikçe belirsizleşmektedir. Bunun yanında uluslararası sistemin iki kutupluluktan tek kutupluluğa doğru dönüştüğü son çeyrek yüzyılda küresel hegemon güç tarafından uluslararası savaş hukukunun bazı alanları dejenere edilmiştir. Bu kapsamda yeni savaş türlerinden hibrit savaş ve onun bir alt alanı olarak varsayılabilen vekâlet savaşlarının, çatışma ortamlarında gittikçe daha fazla yer edinmeye başladığı değerlendirilmiştir. Neredeyse 21 " inci yüzyılın başına kadar uluslararası ilişkilerde ana aktör olarak devlet hemen her alanda aktif rol üstlenen yegâne güç olmuştur. Ancak küreselleşme ile birlikte gelen liberal akımlar ve mikro milliyetçilikler gibi birçok etkenden dolayı aktörler gittikçe çeşitlenmeye başlamıştır. Yakın zamanda bazı uluslararası örgütlerin etkisinin zayıfladığı ve bazı terör örgütlerinin aktörlük vasfı kazanmaya çalıştığı görülmektedir. Uluslararası hukuk alanında yaşanması muhtemel bazı sorunlar ve kamuoyunun artık daha aktif hale gelmesi sebebiyle yeni yüzyılda savaşan devletler yerine savaşan vekiller dönemi daha makul hale gelmeye başlamış görünmektedir. Ancak ana aktör olan ve birçok meselede belirleyiciliğini sürdüren devletlerin Clausewitz " in deyişiyle siyasetlerini başka vasıtalarla sürdürmek için başvurduğu savaşın yeni türü devletleri nasıl etkileyecektir? Bu sorunun cevabı zor olmakla birlikte üzerinde düşünmeye değerdir. Bu çalışmada, nüfusun gittikçe artan bir oranda yaşadığı şehirlere doğru kaymakta olan savaşın vekiller eliyle yürütüldüğü yeni türünün üzerine devletlerin ordularını ve kamuoyunu yeniden inşası konusunda değerlendirmeler yapılmıştır. ABSTRACT Until today during the wars, there have been very clear ranks (both on the battlefield and adversaries), distinct uniforms, marked offensive and defensive lines. Beyond that collective defense organizations arranged very certain concepts and doctrines. However, in the current century, these boundaries are eroded and the lines become increasingly uncertain. In the last twenty-five years when the international system has turned from bipolarity to unipolarity, some areas of international law of war have been degenerated by global hegemon  Doktora Öğrencisi, İstanbul Üniversitesi İktisat Fakültesi Siyaset Bilimi ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Ana Bilim Dalı, E-posta: [email protected].

This study examines the Iran-Saudi rivalry within the context of the changing balance of power in the Middle East. The main research questions were determined to be what the dynamics of the Iran-Saudi rivalry are and what type of role Turkey may play within the rivalry between the two countries. Three essential arguments were developed within this context. The first argument is that the regional balances were broken by the US occupation of Iraq in 2003 and by the 'Arab Spring' process resulting in the regional hegemony rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The second one is that Iran desired to utilize the Arab Spring process as an opportunity to become a regional hegemonic power. On the other hand, the policy of the US to withdraw from and leave the Middle East to its allies Israel and Saudi Arabia caused King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud to adopt a regional leadership policy. Within this framework, the study argued that the rivalry to become the new regional hegemon of the Middle East re-surged between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two historic rival powers of the Middle East. The third argument is that the rivalry between the two countries was mainly in the form of a proxy war but resulted in the fact that the balance of power struggle in the region reached to the proxy war balance as no country managed to outcompete the other.

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Bu araştırmada Ortadoğu'daki İran-Suudi rekabeti, değişen güç dengeleri bağlamında incelenmiştir. Makalenin temel araştırma sorusu, İran-Suudi rekabetinin dinamikleri nelerdir ve iki ülke arasındaki rekabette Türkiye'nin rolü ne olabilir olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu bağlamda üç temel argüman geliştirilmiştir: Birincisi, ABD'nin 2003 yılında Irak işgali ve 'Arap Baharı' sürecinin bölgesel dengeleri bozduğu ve iki ülke arasında bölgesel hegemon olma rekabetine yol açtığı tezi geliştirilmiştir. İkincisi, İran, Arap Baharı sürecini bölgesel hegemon güç olmak için bir fırsat olarak kullanmak istemiştir. Öte yandan ABD'nin bölgeden çekilmesiyle Ortadoğu’yu müttefikleri İsrail ve Suudi Arabistan’a bırakma politikası, Kral Salman’ı bölgesel liderlik politikasına yöneltmiştir. Bu çerçevede araştırmada Ortadoğu’nun iki tarihsel rakip gücü olan İran ve Suudi Arabistan arasında Ortadoğu’nun yeni bölgesel hegemonu olma rekabetinin başladığı argümanı ileri sürülmüştür. Üçüncüsü, iki ülke arasındaki rekabetin ağırlıklı olarak vekalet savaşı biçiminde yürütüldüğü, ancak her iki ülkenin de birbirlerine üstünlük sağlayamaması, bölgede güç dengesi rekabetinin aynı zamanda vekalet savaşı dengesine dönüştüğü argümanı ileri sürülmüştür.

The military operation in Yemen is significant departure from Saudi Arabia's foreign policy tradition and customs. Riyadh has always relied on three strategies to pursue its interests abroad: wealth, establish a global network and muslim education and diplomacy and meadiation. The term "proxy war" has experienced a new popularity in stories on the Middle East. A proxy war is two opposing countries avoiding direct war, and instead supporting combatants that serve their interests. In some occasions, one country is a direct combatant whilst the other supporting its enemy. Various news sources began using the term to describe the conflict in Yemen immediately, as if on cue, after Saudi Arabia launched its bombing campaign against Houthi targets in Yemen on 25 March 2015. This is the reason, why author try to answer for following questions: Is the Yemen Conflict Devolves into Proxy War? and Who's fighting whom in Yemen's proxy war?" Research area includes the problem of proxy war in the Middle East. For sure, the real problem of proxy war must begin with the fact that the United States and its NATO allies opened the floodgates for regional proxy wars by the two major wars for regime change: in Iraq and Libya. Those two destabilizing wars provided opportunities and motives for Sunni states across the Middle East to pursue their own sectarian and political power objectives through "proxy war".

War spins the wheels of history. It changes societies, alters lives, and brings about new dimensions to inflict more brutality on human beings. This is what happened in the aftermath of World War II, when the advent of the nuclear weapons set about a chapter of sophisticated and lethal warfare. Conventional war between the great powers has since been antiquated. It only puts to display the apparent capabilities of the adversary so that deterrence remains intact. War has now become multilevel and multi-dimensional. In such a case hybrid warfare strategy comes to play-which falls under the third dimension of warfare and includes application of both conventional and non-conventional means. It becomes lethal because it brings together the use of technology and cognition to bring about destruction and disruption. On the other hand, the Strategic Interaction theory examines the asymmetric dimension of warfare which a weaker party undertakes in order to subdue or challenge its adversity. To put all this in context, India and Pakistan both being nuclear states do not directly confront each other by conventional means; rather they opt for the non-conventional means. The doctrinal change and rapid military modernization drive by India creates security dilemma for Pakistan. This paper studies that how India has employed hybrid warfare strategy against Pakistan, what are the vulnerabilities of Pakistan that India is exploiting and can exploit, how Pakistan can confront this type of warfare.

Regality theory is a theory saying that people show a preference for strong leadership in times of war or collective danger, but a preference for an egalitarian political system in times of peace and safety. These psychological preferences in individuals are reflected in the political structure and culture of the society. A society in danger will develop in the direction called regal, which includes strong nationalism, discipline, strict religiosity, strict sexual morals and perfectionist art. A society in peace will develop in the opposite direction called kungic, which includes egalitarianism and tolerance. The book is both theoretical and experimental. The theoretical explanation of the regal-versus-kungic dimension is based on evolutionary theory, game theory, biological life history theory and ecological theory. Contributions from the social sciences and the humanities are added to further analyze historical examples of regal and kungic developments. The theory is tested on data from both contemporary and ancient societies. These tests confirm the predictions of the theory. A concluding chapter discusses the applications of regality theory to history, archaeology, political science, conflict and peace research, social psychology, cultural studies, etc.

. By Timothy J. Stapleton. London & New York: Routledge, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-84893-558-7. Hardback, 204 pages. Tracking is defined as "the ability to pursue and close with an animal or human subject by following signs … left behind in the environment" (page 1). The post-1945 wars of decolonization in Africa were largely characterised by guerrilla campaigns fought by nationalist movements bent on expelling or overthrowing European colonial rulers or white minority settler regimes. The security forces which operated against the nationalist insurgencies, employed a number of counterinsurgency methods to find the elusive guerrillas who often had their staging areas in remote, uninhabited, areas. Tracking was one of the methods used during these counterinsurgency operations to locate and engage insurgents. The use of tracking in counterinsurgency warfare is, furthermore, largely determined by the local geography, technology and colonial culture of each specific military operating environment (pages 2, 137).

This chapter provides an overview of Yemen’s modern history, explains the emergence and development of al-Qa'ida and the Islamic State in Yemen, assesses their respective goals, strategies and success, and examines how the Houthi insurgency managed to take over government and overrun much of the country in 2014.

This study examines both Syrian Conflict and Critical Security Studies (CSS), as known Welsh/Aberystwyth School. The security situation in Syria, especially security of chosen case, the Ethnic and sect groups/communities has been examined in the lens of CSS. The role of ethnic and sect groups is very important in this state. From independence of Syria until beginning of the civil war, there have been many problems between those groups, and it has been blown-up with the protests then, became a conflict between the ethnic and sect groups. After a long-time conflict, many people have been killed and displaced. It is time to secure Syria. Of course, Emancipation, human security and derived concept are very important for a decision on security and which are also highlighted by CSS. In any case, a security decision is taken by actors, it should include emancipation of individuals and communities like sects and ethnic communities.

Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, proxy war, Middle Eastern conflicts

One of the reasons for regional instability is an ongoing division between Shias and Sunnis. This division is fuelled both by external actors, including the United States and Russia, and regional powers, including Saudi Arabia and Iran. For ideological, religious, geopolitical and military reasons, those two states have been providing support to opposing sides in almost all regional conflicts, including in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. One of them, although relatively unknown (particularly compared to the struggles in Syria and Iraq) is an ongoing struggle in Yemen, which had for years been considered a sphere of influence of Riyadh. By supporting Houthi insurgency, Iran not only tries to increase its own national power and influence, but at the same time Tehran’s goal is to decrease the position of its rival – Saudi Arabia. This chapter presents and analyses Iran’s activities and approach towards Yemen vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia.

Dari persesuaian hasil analisis parameter Sigal dan timeline Google Trend, penulis menemukan suatu hipotesa baru yang kiranya layak untuk dijadikan penelitian pengembangan dari tulisan ini. Dikaitkan dengan kategori ketiga dari kegunaan komunikasi menurut Holsti (1969), maka sangat menarik untuk diteliti apakah pemberitaan tentang “proxy war” yang dicetuskan oleh Gatot Nurmantyo memberikan konsekuensi berupa kebijakan publik dari presiden Joko Widodo selaku panglima tertinggi TNI untuk menunjuk Gatot Nurmantyo menjadi Panglima TNI dan mengabaikan kebiasaan rotasi Panglima TNI dari 3 matra TNI, sebagaimana dinyatakan Coates dalam teori perencanaan skenario : Kebijakan dan konsekuensinya diintegrasikan ke dalam beberapa cerita tentang negara di masa depan "(Coates 2000; Perencanaan Skenario)

It has been seven years since the beginning of the Syrian civil war. When the Arab uprisings spread throughout Syria, it was not thought that the peaceful protests would turn into one of the worst human-made disasters since World War II. After the Assad regime’s security forces shot dead protesters in southern city of Daraa, the level of violence has been steadily increased nationwide. The situation has been even more complicated when the civil war turned a proxy warfare led by the most powerful countries in the world. This paper aims to draw a picture of why and how proxy warfare occurred in Syria.

The people's revolution in the Middle East, including Syria, was originally intended to repair the system of government toward democratisation. But in its development, the Syrian no longer can expect free and fair general election as expected before the revolution, the Syrian now find themselves into the abyss of the tragedy of civil war involving the regime of Bashar Al-Assad with Russian support against the opposition which also received support from the United States. The Syrian people did not have much choice but to live in their own country along with the authoritarian regime they hate or exile as refugees with millions of Syrians who already leave. International organizations are failed to prevent the Syrian crisis because of differing interests and approaches between Russia and America, the two involved in a war of proxy. This paper outlines the reasons behind the prolonged conflict in Syria and the picture of a proxy war involving Russia and the United States.

This study focuses on the political change and conflict period in Yemen since 2011. It aims to define how the conflict period is formed by considering the turning points of the conflict. The study argues that the rebellions that started for regime change in 2011 in Yemen turned to a proxy war after January 2014 and that they are still on this ground. The National Dialogue Coalition, which was founded in 2013 to govern the transition period. However its failure at the beginning of 2014, is considered a turning point in this sense. In the power gap that has emerged since this date, the conflict has intensified among the local powers, but the support and direct intervention of international actors has come to a more visible level. The study assumes Iran, Saudi Arabia/United Arab Emirates and the United States as the international actors, and Houthis (Ansarullah), former regime forces and Yemen al-Qaeda as the local forces of the proxy war. The proxy war is a consequence of struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The geopolitical location of Yemen makes the country an area that has always drawn the attention of external actors interested in expanding their influences in the Arabian Penin-sula. During the period of the Cold War, the territory of today's Yemen was a theater of geopolitical rivalry, where the interests clashed between both superpowers and regional actors. During the conflict in North and South Yemen, external entities played an im-portant role as they drove the dynamics of these conflicts counting on achieving their own strategic objectives. The purpose of this article is to seek answers to the questions: who, how and why was engaged in armed conflicts in the territory of North and South Yemen during the Cold War era, and what long-term consequences of this commitment can be observed today?

Many social scientists see Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as emerging powers. Analyzing to what extent these countries have the size, the resources, and the will to achieve great power status they find that all these countries are the largest countries with the biggest economies in their regions and play an important role in the global polity. The effects of symbolic power accumulation, however, are frequently ignored and significantly underestimated. The paper contributes to the discussion on emerging powers by analyzing global symbolic power formation. Therefore, a field of global symbolism, namely the global field of sport is reviewed. Sport in general can be seen as a mechanism to strengthen the national identity of any country and its vision of itself. Hence, the paper argues that the investment into sport is a useful strategy to improve citizens' self-perception as an emerging power and to gain support for their 'expanding' politics. Furthermore, it argues that the power status of emerging powers can be read off from the supply and success in international and global sport events. Consequently, it is not of great surprise that emerging countries have started hosing major sport event recently (Olympic Summer Games 2008 and Olympic Winter Games 2022 in China; Soccer World Championship 2010 in South Africa, Commonwealth Games 2010 and Cricket World Cup 2011 in India; Olympic Winter Games 2014 and the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia, FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Summer Games 2016 in Brazil).

70 years ago Bellinger remarked that the "Star between Two Crescents" issue could be one year earlier than most think.
This went uncommented upon.
The consequences are explored through a re-modelling with explanations from my previous Rome - Pontic chronology.

Saudi Arabia and Iran compete for the hegemony in the Middle East and in the whole Muslim world in a broader perspective. Both states, take advantage of religious-based internal conflicts for their political interests and strategic goals. Iran and Saudi Arabia are not interested in the involvement into direct military confrontation. Therefore they fight for regional superpower position indirectly, by proxy wars. The main research problem of this paper is to seek an answer for the question: how Saudi Arabia and Iran influence the ongoing armed conflict in Yemen. The aim of this research is to present indi-rect involvement of both entities, and clarify political motives as well as strategic goals of this involvement.

WINNER of the Lynn W. Turner Prize in the 2018 Phi Alpha Theta National Paper Prize Competition (Undergraduate).

The introduction of nuclear weapons in 1945 changed warfare forever, not least in the American context. With the Soviets’ challenge to the American “nuclear monopoly” in 1949, American policymakers and strategists were forced to reconsider the implications of using such weapons. Some suggested using smaller, “tactical” nuclear weapons (TNWs), intended more for targeting an enemy’s military than its population centers. At several points in the early Cold War period, the US almost employed TNWs, but held back. Presidents Truman and Eisenhower restrained themselves from using these weapons due to political, diplomatic, and practical concerns. Specifically, they feared domestic and international backlash, and the possibility of starting World War III. Additionally, many of the situations in which use of these weapons was considered—especially in Asia—were not conducive to mass military casualties, due to environmental constraints (e.g. terrain and climate), and military realities (e.g. enemy formations and positions). While Presidents Truman and Eisenhower both ultimately restrained themselves from employing TNWs during the Cold War, Truman was clearly more reluctant to consider their use. Though Truman saw nuclear weapons as a valuable diplomatic tool, he also considered them to be cataclysmic and morally reprehensible, and was therefore committed to only using them as weapons of last resort. President Eisenhower, on the other hand, was deeply intrigued by their diplomatic and military value, and sought to make such weapons conventional. His interest in TNWs, however, was repeatedly squelched by potential foreign and domestic reactions and military (in)feasibility. For both presidents, the greatest deterrent to using tactical nuclear weapons in the field was the fear of nuclear war with the Soviet Union and, later, China. These constraints are evident in the policymaking records from the period, as well as the memoirs and other accounts left by the policymakers themselves.

Conflict scholars usually ignore the relationship between external governments and rebel groups. Interventionist governments are regarded as peripheral to civil war dynamics and uninterested in strategies, goals and tactics of domestic armed groups. This draft challenges these assumption by bringing up the puzzle of ungrateful proxies. Sponsored rebel groups are often defiant toward, collaborate with enemies or turn against their external beneficiaries. The paper asks why and under what conditions these instances occur and provides.

Generasi muda Indonesia adalah the leader of tomorrow dari Bangsa Indonesia, sebuah Bangsa akan abadi dan bermartabat jika generasi mudanya peduli terhadap budaya-budaya serta pedoman hidup yang telah mengakar abadi sebelumnya di tengah masyarakat, sehingga diperlukan konsep dan strategi untuk menangkal dengan mengenalkan ancaman peperangan asimetris kepada generasi muda Indonesia karena di tangan kaum mudalah nasib peradaban Bangsa ini dipertaruhkan keberlangsungannya

Devletler arasındaki rekabetin ve büyük güçlerin mücadele yöntemlerinin değişime
uğramasıyla birlikte savaş kavramının da biçim değiştirdiği bir çağa şahit
oluyoruz. Savaşların maliyetlerinin kazanan devletler için dahi çok büyük boyutlara
ulaşmasının yanı sıra iletişim teknolojisindeki gelişmelerin sağladığı olanaklar,
günümüzde asimetrik savaş yöntemlerini olabildiğince yaygınlaştırmıştır. En
önemli pratiğine Ortadoğu ülkelerinde ve bilhassa Suriye’de şahit olunan yeni
nesil savaşlar, “vekâlet savaşları” olarak adlandırılmaktadır.
Vekâlet savaşlarının bilinen aktörleri, cephede karşılaşan ordular yerine düşük
yoğunluklu savaşlar için sahaya sürülen terör örgütleridir. Orduların cephede
karşılaşmalarının ikincil pozisyona düştüğü, asıl savaşın hedef ülkenin toplumsal
ve siyasal sistemini çökertme ve içten teslim almaya dönüştüğü yeni nesil savaşta
medya da çok önemli bir silah olarak kullanılmaktadır.
Hedef ülke kamuoyu medya faaliyetleri ve sivil toplum örgütleri gibi unsurlar
ile etki altına alınmaktadır. Sert güce dayanan müdahalelerden önce tercih edilen
ve genellikle halk merkezli bir ikna arayışının eşlik ettiği vekâlet savaşlarında
devlet dışı aktörlerin kullanıldığı, toplumsal hassasiyetlerin ve kamplaşmaların
istismar edildiği görülmektedir.
Türkiye’yi 15 Temmuz 2016 tarihinde yapılan karanlık darbe teşebbüsüne
götüren süreçte, FETÖ terör örgütünün medya faaliyetlerinin önemli bir rolü söz
konusudur. Örgüt 15 Temmuz’da silahların namlusunu millete çevirmeden önce,
Türkiye’nin bağışıklık sistemini çökertecek yoğun bir medya faaliyeti içerisinde
olmuştur. FETÖ medyası bilhassa 2013 yılından itibaren örgütün eylemlerine paralel
bir şekilde devletin resmi kurum ve kuruluşlarına açıktan saldırmaya, devlet
sırlarını ifşa etmeye, belirlenen amaçlar doğrultusunda kamuoyu algısı oluşturmaya
ve seçilmiş meşru hükümetleri etkisizleştirmeye çalışmıştır.
Bu çalışmada Türkiye’yi 15 Temmuz ihanetine götüren süreçte FETÖ terör
örgütünün medya yapılanması üzerinde durulmaktadır. Küresel güç savaşında  Türkiye’nin düşmanlarına hizmet eden etkili bir araç haline getirilen FETÖ medyasının,
darbeye giden süreçteki işlevi ortaya konmaktadır.
Çalışma nitel araştırma tekniklerinin kullanıldığı betimsel bir çalışmadır. Belirlenen
amaç kapsamında kaynaklara ulaşılarak incelemeler yapılmakta ve alt
başlıklar halinde durum ortaya konmaktadır.
ABSTRACT
We are witnessing an age in which the rivalry between the states and the
ways of fighting the great powers have changed as well as the concept of war.
In addition to the fact that the costs of wars have reached enormous dimensions
even for winning states, the opportunities provided by the developments
in communication technology have made asymmetric methods of war as widespread
as possible. The most important practice is that the new generation
wars, which are witnessed in the Middle East countries and especially in Syria,
are called “proxy wars”.
The well-known actors of the proxy wars are terrorist organizations that are
put on the scene for low-intensity wars instead of armies facing the front. The
media in the new generation of warfare, where the frontiers of the armies fall
into the secondary position and the main war destroys the social and political
system of the target country and turns it into internal delivery, is also used as a
very important weapon.
The target country is influenced by public opinion media activities and
non-governmental organizations. In Proxy wars which prior to hard-bodied interventions,
a preferred and often community-centered quest for persuasion, it
is seen that non-stated actors has used along with exploitation social sensitivities
and polarization.
In the process leading to the dark coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the media
activities of the terrorist organization of FETÖ have played an important role.
Before turning the weapon to nation on 15 July, the organization had an intense
media activity to knock down the immune system of Turkey. Since the year
2013, in particular, FETÖ media have tried to attack the government’s official
institutions and organizations in an open manner, to disclose state secrets, to create public opinion in the direction of the determined aims, and to neutralize
elected legitimate governments.
This study focuses on the media structure of FETÖ terrorist organization in
the process leading to the betrayal of 15 July. In the global power battle, the
function of the FETO media, which has become an effective tool to serve the
enemies of Turkey, in the process of going to the coup is revealed.
The study is a descriptive study using qualitative research techniques. The
resources are reached within the scope of the determined purpose and the situation
is put into sub-headings.

Baluchistan-the largest province of Pakistan has remained a bone of contention in the federation ever since the creation of Pakistan. It is argued that this Baluch insurgency is not purely a freedom struggle, though it got its birth with a disputed cession of the princely states of Baluch Sardars to Pakistan. The federation of Pakistan, instead of pacifying the defiant tribal leaders struggled with them by means of force and inculcated the seeds of distrust. The situation further worsened by rising socio-economic miseries of the Baluch people generating a sense of deprivation in the society. Adding fuel to fire was the role of regional and international actors. Baluchistan acquired the status of a province in 1970 because of the abolition of the ‘One-Unit’ in what was then known as West Pakistan. The province is rich in oil and gas and provides strategic depth to the state of Pakistan.

The Kavango Department of Education, at the behest of the South-West Africa (SWA) Government, ordered the creation of a local youth movement during 1975. The primary aim of the ‘Kavango Jeugbeweging’ was to prevent the spread of communist propaganda, foster a sense of Kavango nationalism, and limit the political influence of the South-West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) amongst the local Kavango youth. The creation of this movement coincided with the start of the South African conventional military involvement in Angola during 1975, and the growing insurgency in northern SWA by the SWAPO. The South African government hence developed a total national strategy to combat this threat in the military, social, political, economic and educational spheres. The aim of this paper is to establish the reasons for the establishment of the ‘Kavango Jeugbeweging’, and to investigate the development of this movement throughout 1975-1985. The effectiveness of this movement as a counterinsurgency tool within the framework of the South African total national strategy will also be analysed.

Chapter 8 presents a unique way for the military to think about power dynamics within a sociocultural system. Specifically, Chapter 8 invites military leaders and analysts to identify variables missing as opposed to what is present inside regional, ideological infused conflicts. Steffany Trofino’s chapter, “The Reverse Assessment of Asymmetric Warfare,” suggests the military can gain a foothold for leverage in a sociocultural system by understanding and identifying what insurgents are incapable of doing and then exploit that weakness or identified vulnerability to an advantage. She discusses issues ranging from power vacuums to providing social welfare. Trofino’s chapter also demonstrates the permeability of the boundaries of a sociocultural system, which may be composed of not only the local population, but also foreign entities seeking to influence a regional political system. Trofino’s chapter raises intriguing possibilities about where the boundaries of a sociocultural system should be drawn. For instance, should military planners and analysts define a sociocultural system as consisting of all the elements in-country (e.g., political institutions, military organizations, economics, etc.), or is there also value in considering influences that exist outside the country’s borders (e.g., foreign governments, corporations)?
Trofino’s chapter invites the reader to consider how sociocultural systems are dynamic, fluid, and changing, it serves as a reminder for analysts to think “outside the box” and look at conflicts from the cultural context in which the conflict occurs, from the local perspective.

Terrorist violence led by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is one of the major issues of Turkey since the 1980s. This violence is based upon Kurdish ethnic identity aimed towards establishing an independent Kurdish state in Turkey’s southeast, northern Iraq, northern Syria and north-western Iran. Despite this aim, the terrorist campaign of the PKK predominantly targets security forces and civilians in Turkey. However, the existence of a terrorist group such a long time raises a question of the impact of external support on the formation and maintenance of the PKK. While Turkey has criticised constantly its southern neighbours on the PKK’s activities and tactics, the regional approaches have been largely neglected in the existing scholarly literature. This article aims to close this gap by focusing on the role played by Iraq, Iran and Syria in the PKK terrorism and Turkey’s counter-terrorism policies. The article argues that the major reasons for the unsuccessful result of Turkey’s effort to destroy the PKK were the approaches of ignorance of the PKK activities and the use of the group as a trump card by the three neighbours and insufficient policies to keep under control the regional dimension of the conflict. The article critically analyses historical relationships between these three states and Turkey to explore how the regional dimension has affected the resolution of this conflict.

Iran's influence and presence in Iraq have increased significantly in recent years. The collapse of the Saddam's dictatorship in 2003, after the US invasion, served to inflate Iran's influence in Iraq, particularly in the post-ISIS era. In this connection, Iran has used various means and tools to develop its strategy in Iraq. This article argues that Iran's current strategy in Iraq stems from a Realpolitik agenda rather than an ideological one, concerned more with political, economic, and security interests than pursuing revolutionary objectives per se. To this end, Tehran has largely relied on long-established relationships with several pro-Iranian political parties and militia groups. These relationships are often couched in religious ideological terms as a foundation and justification for its future strategy in post-ISIS Iraq. The questions that this paper will address are the following: what was Iran's role in defeating ISIS in Iraq? How has Tehran benefitted from its long-term relationships with Iraqi political parties and militia groups? What are the Iranian sources of power in Iraq and how do they help Iran gain strategic dominance in Iraq?

This well researched piece of investigative journalism by David Axe chronologically examines the evolution of drone technology and its increasing application in US proxy wars in the late 20th century until the start of 2013.

A point of note is that the author identifies the full scale and direct troop deployment in the recent Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts (the most high profile conflicts of the still ongoing 'War on Terror') as anomalies in recent US foreign policy interventionism. 

It is worth noting here that the Bush administration and (Neoconservative driven) occupation of Iraq was largely fought using 'private security contractors' via companies such as the formerly named Blackwater, despite the public perception that official state sponsored troops were the largest deployment in this now troubled region.  ...