Dissecting a proxy war beyond the great powers

[Puer Aeternus]

When I think of proxy wars, I think of the big players. The Cold war. Russia, China, the United States. 

But unknown to me, proxy wars play out between medium powers vying for influence as well. The linked video discuses one of half a dozen conflicts between the UAE and Turkey. 

Seems all that's really needed for power to be leveraged is some sort of disparity in something.. Information intelligence, military equipment/technology, money/funding, etc.

It's really fascinating how deep the patchwork of self-interest runs. How even smaller or less involved players chip in on whatever side fits their interest. This is the outcome of what IR studies calls global anarchy~ There's no over arcing system strong enough to negotiate conflicts and prevent interference. Instead, moral considerations are thrown out the window in a race to the bottom, defending the side best serving a nation's self-interest.

Edited June 12 by Puer Aeternus

[PurpleTree]

So who are the better guys in this?

I know Turkey likes to attack Kurdish separatists.

But i’d much rather live in Istanbul than UAE.

[Puer Aeternus]

10 hours ago, PurpleTree said:

So who are the better guys in this?

I know Turkey likes to attack Kurdish separatists.

But i’d much rather live in Istanbul than UAE.

@PurpleTree  I don't really think there is a better guy in this scenario. It's too messy and they've had this sort of conflict before many times.

 

Countries can have wildly different domestic and foreign policies. For example, look at France. It's not perfect but they have lots of quality of life standards and policies in place making them a genuinely decent place to live.

 

But their foreign policy is super exploitative. France essentially has a grip on most of their african former colonies and will leverage massive power to keep them in line with what's best for France's interest rather than that country's.

 

The issue is the boundary is drawn at a national level. Democracy brings representation from people of the country, but not countries receiving its foreign policy. Countries like Senegal and Mali don't have much say. Even if France were to implement policy in favor of these countries, if it harmed citizens of France there would be pressure of roll back.

[BlueOak]

Thank you for giving me an education, and us all a break from the usual names. Without understanding the regional and local powers, we never actually understand what is going on. Everyone just focuses on global influence instead. I hope to see more of these videos.

Edited Friday at 04:45 PM by BlueOak

[Puer Aeternus]

@BlueOak Happy to have supplied the content! Will definitely share more in the future as I find it