Why read Proxy Warriors?

Book cover of Proxy Warriors: The Rise and Fall of State-Sponsored Militias

Book description

In this book, Ariel Ahram offers a new perspective on a growing threat to international and human security-the reliance of 'weak states' on quasi-official militias, paramilitaries, and warlords.
Tracing the history of several "high profile" paramilitary organizations, including Indonesia's various militia factions, Iraq's tribal "awakening," and Iran's Revolutionary Guard and…

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The Middle East

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History

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Why read it?

1 author picked Proxy Warriors as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Yaniv Voller

Author

Militias have become an increasingly popular tool at the hands of governments in countering insurgency in their peripheries, and hence, a recurring feature in conflicts. Because of the ad hoc nature of militia recruitment and their irregular form, students of conflict tended to overlook their impact on politics and society, assuming that once conflict subsided, these actors vanished.

Ahram’s work is one of the first to challenge this conception, demonstrating the profound impact that this ‘outsourcing’ of violence from governments to peripheral security providers can have on conflict and the state as a whole. In this respect, Ahram’s book has…

From Yaniv's list on The best books on conflict and security in the Middle East and Africa.