Surrogate Warfare: The Transformation of War in the Twenty-First Century

In this excellent survey and analysis of the debates raised by the use of surrogates in war, Andreas Krieg and Jean-Marc Rickli make a compelling case for both the extent to which surrogacy is changing the nature of war and the seriousness with which this issue needs to be taken. Surrogacy in the context of warfare refers to the process in which the burdens of war are shifted from state and nonstate actors to human and/or technological substitutes. Recognizing that surrogates have been a feature of warfare for as long as there has been war, Krieg and Rickli offer neat historical summaries of past surrogate uses to establish that contemporary developments, and some likely future ones, are stretching earlier ways of thinking about this phenomenon to a breaking point, necessitating new analytical approaches. Surrogates have traditionally served as force multipliers or provided specialist functions within conventional wars, or functioned as disposable actors to be disowned by a state sponsor and provide distance from actions that bring political, ethical, legal, and military risks. Krieg and Rickli argue that in contemporary warfare, surrogacy is increasingly taking on different forms. The authors’ claim regarding the contemporary turning point in surrogate warfare rests on two sets of distinct developments. The first is the shift to what Krieg and Rickli describe as “neotrinitarian” warfare. This view argues that the use of surrogates and proxies effectively relocates many of the most serious costs of warfare outside the Clausewitzian triangle of political authority (the state), political agent (the soldier), and the people. As states find direct engagement in complex conflicts increasingly unpalatable and ineffective—as they are often characterized by blends of insurgency, terrorism, state failure, and criminality—Krieg and Rickli argue that surrogates offer attractive options, although at considerable potential costs. In some respects, there is a clear connection to the long history of surrogates and proxies: states use surrogates to shield themselves