What Are Proxy Wars?

A proxy war is when two powerful nations compete indirectly by supporting different sides in another country's conflict. Instead of fighting each other directly, they give money, weapons, and training. Proxy wars were especially common during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

These wars allowed the superpowers to spread their influence (capitalism vs. communism) without risking a nuclear world war. But for the countries where they happened, the cost was huge: millions of lives lost, destroyed economies, and political chaos.

Proxy wars are important to study because they show how global politics shapes local conflicts, how outside intervention can drag wars out for decades, and how the people most affected are usually the civilians trapped in the middle.