Image
Dr. Andrew Maher on 17 February will give the lecture "The strategic logic of proxy wars: addressing policy for competition". A former officer, now senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Canberra, Maher specializes in irregular warfare en theorizing special operations.
During his lecture, he will present his upcoming book "Riding Tigers", based on his dissertation "The Strategic Logic of Proxy Warfare: Addressing Australia's Policy for Competition”. Maher was supervised by David Kilcullen, among others.
Today’s global security environment is characterised by great power contests. As we know from previous histories of strategic competition between states, such heightened rivalry routinely manifests in violence perpetrated by proxy forces—a dynamic intended either to avoid war, or to assist in its prosecution.
Riding Tigers explores the use of proxies in arenas of international strategic competition characterised by force. It looks at why, where and when proxy warfare is waged, examining how states seek to employ proxies, to cajole them to act on their behalf, and then to ensure their compliance. Today, states wishing to avoid war, yet still to pursue competition, often turn to proxy warfare as an attractive low-cost option. This policy response is informed by history, from Europe’s Napoleonic-era competition and the Great Game during the age of empire, to interwar competition in East Asia and, later in the twentieth century, the global Cold War.
Proxy warfare is not the preserve of major powers, but a tool of statecraft available to all. Andrew Maher illuminates current trends, deriving a strategic logic to the proxy wars that will continue to influence today’s geopolitical competitions—and tomorrow’s. Over the past few months, he has also been intersecting with ASPI's work Unconventional deterrence in Australian strategy; an idea that is argued in the conclusion of Riding Tigers. Whereas the book's scope focuses on Australia, Maher will use the lecture to broaden the scope.
Should you wish to order a copy of the book, visit Riding Tigers | Hurst Publishers.
Time schedule
16:00 | Registration
16:30 | Start of the lecture, followed by Q&A
18:00 | End of lecture, network opportunity with drinks
19:00 | End of event
Location
Leiden University, Wijnhaven (Turfmarkt 99, 2511 DP The Hague)