Proxy Wars & Sovereignty: The Ethics and Impacts of Proxy War on State Sovereignty

Proxy war has been utilized by states since the age of the Romans. From the Byzantine-Sassanian wars to the Vietnam War, countries have involved themselves in other countries’ conflicts for centuries in the name of national interest. However, the involvement in proxy war opens a door to vast considerations of ethics and implications to the internal resources and national security interests of a state. Furthermore, proxy warfare can impact the sovereignty of both the warring states and the countries pulling the strings; thus, it is necessary to evaluate and understand the impact proxy war has on state sovereignty. This paper seeks to identify the definition of proxy war and proxy war’s impact on state sovereignty through comparative case study on the Second Libyan Civil War and the current Yemen crisis. This paper also establishes the ethical considerations of proxy war under Just War Theory.