Proxy War Revisited: Great Power Competition in the Russo-Ukraine Conflict

Year 2025, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 613 - 636, 31.05.2025

Melih Kazdal

https://doi.org/10.30561/sinopusd.1650310

Abstract

This study analyses the Russian-Ukrainian War within the framework of proxy war. The primary argument of the study is that the Russian-Ukrainian War is a proxy war for the United States of America (USA) and that this proxy war exhibits characteristics reminiscent of the Cold War era. The strategic competition between the great powers has seen a return to Cold War-era proxy war practices. The US utilize Ukraine as a proxy in its strategic competition with Russia and pursues a policy accordingly. The substantial military and economic assistance the US has provided to Ukraine, in addition to its pre- and post-war policies, serve to substantiate this assertion. The time period of the study covers the period from the onset of the war to the end of the Joe Biden era. The final phase of the study incorporated the utilization of the case study analysis method, which is an integral compo-nent of the qualitative analysis method. Moreover, the discourses of political elites and the data sets published by organizations engaged in the war were utilized.

Keywords

Proxy war , Strategic Competition , Ukraine War , USA , Russia.

Vekalet Savaşı Yeniden: Rusya-Ukrayna Çatışmasında Büyük Güç Rekabeti

Abstract

Bu çalışma Rusya-Ukrayna Savaşı’nı vekâlet savaşı çerçevesinde ele almaktadır. Çalış-manın temel argümanı Rusya-Ukrayna Savaşı’nın, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri (ABD) için bir vekâlet savaşı olduğu ve bu vekâlet savaşının Soğuk Savaş dönemi pratiklerine sahip olduğudur. Büyük güçler arasındaki stratejik rekabette Soğuk Savaş dönemi vekâlet sava-şı pratiklerine bir dönüş yaşanmaktadır. ABD, Rusya ile olan stratejik rekabetinde Ukray-na’yı bir vekil olarak kullanmakta ve buna yönelik bir politika izlemektedir. ABD’nin Uk-rayna’ya yönelik yaptığı devasa silah yardımı ve ekonomik yardımlar ile savaş öncesi ve sırasında izlediği politika bunu ortaya koymaktadır. Çalışmanın zaman aralığı savaşın başlangıç tarihinden Joe Biden döneminin bitişine kadar olan süreyi içermektedir. Son olarak çalışmada nitel analiz yöntemi içerisine dâhil olan vaka analizi metodu kullanılmış-tır. Ek olarak siyasi elitlerin söylemleri ile savaşı takip eden kurumların yayımladığı veri setlerine başvurulmuştur.

Keywords

Vekâlet Savaşı , Stratejik Rekabet , Ukrayna Savaşı , ABD , Rusya

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