Iran's Support for Assad in Syria

Proxy Warfare

Proxy war is an armed conflict between two actors or states, fighting on the behalf of other parties who are not directly engaged in the armed conflict. Proxies are typically supported by the other parties via funding, arming, training, or some other form of assistance. Nicaragua is a key legal case that highlights the problems that can arise from proxy warfare. As Heckman (2017) points out: “In Nicaragua, the Court found that the United States was guilty of ‘training, arming, equipping, financing and supplying the contra forces’. It further found that the actions of the United States ‘in and against Nicaragua’ created an international armed conflict (IAC) between Nicaragua and the United States.”[footnoteRef:2] However, the Court also found that a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) was going on in the state of Nicaragua at the same time. Dinstein has also pointed out how incongruous such a ruling can be with reality: while “the mere supply of arms by a foreign State to the insurgents“ might not necessarily lead to an IAC type of situation, “there comes a point – for instance, when the weapons are accompanied by instructors training the rebels – at which the foreign State is deemed to be waging warfare against the local Government.”[footnoteRef:3] Proxy wars continue all around today, with the war in Ukraine serving as one example, and Iran’s proxy wars for expansion as another. Indeed, the war in Ukraine and Iran’s proxy wars can serve as modern case study examples of the problems of proxy war from a legal point of view. This paper aims to compare the Iranian proxy wars with the war in Ukraine to see how proxy war is defined and determined today. [2: Nicaragua, supra note 14, paras. 292(3)-(4)] [3: Dinstein, War, Aggression and Self-Defence, supra note 70, p. 10.]

References

Berti, B., & Guzansky, Y. (2014). Saudi Arabia's Foreign Policy on Iran and the Proxy

War in Syria: Toward a New Chapter? Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, 8(3), 25-34.

This paper examines Syria as a proxy war between Iran and enemy states and helps to provide context for this subject.

Case Concerning the Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua

(Nicaragua v. United States of America), Judgment, International Court of Justice, 27 June 1986

This case will help provide a blueprint for how to examine proxy war from a legal standpoint.

Dinstein, Yoram. 2012. War, Aggression and Self-Defence, 5th edition.

This book provides insight into the legality of proxy warfare and how a conflict might cross the line.

Heckmann, L., 2017. The Syrian Conflict as an “Internationalized Armed Conflict”?

Proxy Wars and the Process of Internationalization Under International Humanitarian Law (Doctoral dissertation, Master’s thesis. University of Southern Denmark).