Book review: Proxy warfare

"Proxy Warfare." Andrew Mumford. Polity Press. May 2013. --- Proxy wars represent a perennial strand in the history of conflict. The appeal of ‘warfare on the cheap’ has proved an irresistible strategic allure for nations through the centuries. However, proxy wars remain a missing link in contemporary war and security studies, argues Andrew Mumford, who in this book aims to shed new light on the dynamics and lineage of proxy warfare from the Cold War to the War on Terror, whilst developing a cogent conceptual framework to explain their appeal. Jeff Roquen finds that this is a timely and welcome contribution to the literature.