PREVENTING ATROCITIES

    Proxy Warfare Project

    Global and regional powers increasingly rely on state and non-state partners in the course of ongoing hostilities, particularly those occurring in the Middle East and North Africa. Research suggests that such support of armed proxies increases the risk of civilian casualties and protracted conflict. In response to these concerns, the ABA Center for Human Rights convened an Expert Working Group to examine whether gaps in the law have contributed to the adverse impacts of proxy warfare and make recommendations on how to reduce these risks.

    Read the Four-Part Series in Just Security

    Part 1 (May 11, 2020): Why No One Ever Wins a Proxy War

    Part 2 (May 20, 2020):  How States Supporting Armed Proxies Can Reduce Civilian Casualties and Protracted Hostilities

    Part 3 (May 27, 2020): How the U.N. Can Help Prevent the Spread of Proxy Conflicts

    Part 4 (August 20 2020): House and Senate Chart Different Courses on US Clandestine Support of Foreign Militias

    How States Supporting Armed Proxies Can Reduce Civilian Casualties and Protracted Hostilities
    How States Supporting Armed Proxies Can Reduce Civilian Casualties and Protracted Hostilities

    Related Articles

    Lawfare (April 9, 2020): Time to Get a Handle on America's Conduct of Proxy Warfare

    Letter to Chairman Pomper (April 14, 2014):Arms Exports to Countries with a Consistent Pattern of Gross Human Rights Abuses

    Related Events

    Forum on the Arms Trade's Annual Conference 2021: 
    Advancing More Responsible Arms Trade Policy 
    Tuesday, January 12, 2021, Virtual

    Co-sponsored    : Arms Control Association, Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), Security Assistance Monitor at the Center for International Policy, and the Stimson Center

    Panelists included    : Representatives Ilhan Omar and Ted Lieu, Radhya al-Mutawakel, Brittany Benowitz, Sarah Holewinski, Rose Jackson, Dan Mahanty, Rachel Stohl, Íñigo Arredondo Vera, and Sarah Leah Whitson

    View the Conference on Youtube

    View the Conference on Forum on the Arms Trade's website

    Partnered Military Arrangements: A Virtual Roundtable
    December 2020

    Co-sponsored: The American Bar Association Center for Human Rights, Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

    View the Event Summary on CIVIC's Webpage

    Launch Event Details

    On Tuesday, December 10, 2019, ABA CHR held a launch event for the Report, co-sponsored by the ABA Rule of Law Initiative, the American Society for International Law, and the Stimson Center. The featured panelists were members of the Expert Working Group,

    Stephen Tankel (moderator), Associate Professor at American University and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security;

    Brittany Benowitz, Chief Counsel for the ABA's Center for Human Rights;

    Linda Bishai, Adjunct professor at George Washington University;

    Daniel Byman, Senior Associate Dean at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Middle East Policy; and

    Rachel Stohl, Managing Director, Stimson Center.

    Click to View the Photos from the Report Launch Event

    Listen below to the launch event audio:

    Read the Report 

    Report on the Legal Framework Regulating Proxy Warfare (PDF)