Beyond confrontation: A typology of proxy wars between rival powers

The study of how rival powers interact when they engage in proxy wars has generated many important insights, but the field remains fragmented. This article integrates these insights by offering a typological framework focused on interaction patterns among rival powers. The framework rests on two key choices rival powers face when conducting proxy interventions in third-party conflicts. The first is whether to support the same or opposing local warring parties; the second is whether to coordinate their in-theater activities. Combining these two dimensions yields four distinct interaction patterns, which we call (1) confrontation, (2) managed rivalry, (3) competitive influence-seeking, and (4) tacit alignment. The article unpacks these categories, specifies the mechanisms through which they emerge, and illustrates the framework’s analytical value through a series of empirical vignettes drawn from both the Cold War and the contemporary era. The framework enables structured within-case and between-case comparisons as well as large-n analyses aimed at uncovering recurring conditions associated with distinct forms of interaction between rival powers.