Description
Before the 21st-century digital revolution, warfare was traditionally understood across three domains: air, land, and sea. However, the rise of the internet and social media has introduced a fourth, non-kinetic domain known as “Digital Proxy Warfare.” This form of warfare represents strategic competition in the digital realm aimed at shaping public opinion. Unlike conventional cyber or information warfare, digital proxy warfare is conducted through decentralized agents—including intentional digital operatives and unwitting social media users.
This research argues that the rapid dissemination of information and deep social media engagement among citizens have established the groundwork for sophisticated yet economically efficient digital proxy warfare, challenging traditional, state-led concepts of information and cyber warfare. This phenomenon presents a novel and unprecedented threat to national and international security, posing challenges for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in war and security studies.
To address existing conceptual gaps on digital-led proxy warfare, theoretically, this research builds upon Mumford's (2013) framework of Proxy Warfare and employs an empirical approach, using a Google survey to collect and analyze data. Using purposive and random sampling techniques, the survey targeted undergraduate and postgraduate students in International Relations, War, and Security Studies, as well as academics and national security personnel, including members of Pakistan’s Cyber Command and Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The study examines the impact of digital proxy warfare in key geopolitical events, including the Fall of Kabul (2021), the French protests against police violence (June 2023), Iran’s women’s rights movement (2022), regime changes in Pakistan involving the removal of former PM Imran Khan (2022-2023), and the Russia-Ukraine conflict (2022).
The findings contribute to an advanced understanding of how state and non-state actors exploit digital spaces to influence social media narratives, offering new insights into the role of non-kinetic warfare in contemporary war and security studies.
