Commentary Proxy warfare is best described as a game of geopolitical chess. The game is evolving in nature, according to Candace Rondeaux, researcher at the Center on the Future of War, and David Sterman, senior policy analyst at New America. They define modern proxy warfare “as sponsorship of conventional or irregular forces that lie outside the constitutional order of states.” Take the Middle East and its periphery, for example, where “multiple states have adopted limited war strategies predicated on murky command structures that allow sponsors and proxies to cross red lines and bend international legal norms.” The Iran-Israel proxy conflict is the most obvious example, with both countries using the likes of Syria and Lebanon as battlegrounds in their never-ending conflict. In Asia, meanwhile, China and India have used Nepal to engage in strategic arm-wrestling. India, somewhat surprisingly, appears to be winning. Struggling to counter India, the Chinese regime has instead set …