Michel Wyss: LECT, Military Academy ETH Zurich, Proxy Wars, New Paradigms with Sargis Sangari EP #57

On Monday, 21 JUN 21, on Episode #56 of New Paradigms with Sargis Sangari, Michel Wyss of the Military Academy at the Federal Institute of Technology #ETHZurich, discussed the evolution of proxy warfare, in particular as it pertains to the #MiddleEast.

Michel recapped how the notion of proxy warfare has changed over the past decades, focusing on diverging interests between proxy forces on the ground and their external backers abroad. The discussion then turned to the war in #Syria where such competing interests manifest and ensuing frictions abound, concentrating on the relations between the United States and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (#SDF), which has been an ongoing source of tension for #Turkey, a #NATO Ally.

As an example of the effects of Proxy Wars, Michel and I did a deep dive on how is it possible for the Kurdish Workers Party (#PKK), which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S., can be the main branch of the SDF with the Kurdish Peoples Protection Unit (#YPG) being its offshoot be supported by the U.S. with weapons and Arms first through Iraq than through Syria directly through the SDF.

We also spoke about #ANTIFA ties to the YPG in Syria from 2014-2017.

Michel and I also talked about how domestic considerations affect proxy warfare and how this may play out in the context of a potentially contested succession of #Iran's supreme leader, with the possibility of Irans new President #EbrahimRaisi, competing against #MojtabaKhamenei, for control of #Iran's power structures after the passing of Supreme Leader of Iran #AliKhamenei as well as how proxy competition (or "backyard wars") may be used as a frame to understand the unfolding US-Chinese rivalry.