Explaining Foreign Support Escalation in Civil War

From Sponsorship to Intervention
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-34042-3
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 240 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Civil Wars and Intra-State Conflict

This book investigates why some foreign powers that initially assist warring parties in civil wars later escalate to direct military involvement.

The volume connects proxy war and direct intervention through a new theoretical framework, Support Escalation Theory, arguing that intervention (“direct support”) is risky and costlier than the transfer of resources (“indirect support”), and so is not chosen lightly. Using case studies, including Fascist Italy’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and Russia’s intervention in the Donbas in 2014, the book highlights why foreign sponsors prefer to escalate from indirect to direct support: they do so when the time window to affect the conflict and avoid a negative outcome is running out, and the warring party would not be able to use further indirect support that would no longer be helpful. Therefore, foreign sponsors feel the incentive to step in with their own forces. Additional examples test how widely the pattern holds in the 20th and 21st centuries, shedding light on one of the most important—and dangerous—features of modern conflict.

This book will be of much interest to students of civil wars, conflict studies, security studies and International Relations.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate, Professional Reference, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Spatafora, Giuseppe

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Friedens- und Konfliktforschung
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Staatsbürgerkunde, Staatsbürgerschaft, Zivilgesellschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Militärwesen Nationale und Internationale Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Nichtregierungsorganisation (NGOs)
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1: Introduction: From Backers to Belligerents Chapter 2: Conceptualization: Two Logics of External Support Chapter 3: The Argument: Unpacking Support Escalation Theory Chapter 4: Research Design: Tracing Support Escalation Theory Chapter 5: Black Shirts on the Meseta: Fascist Italy’s support to Franco in the Spanish Civil War Chapter 6: The First Invasion of Ukraine: Escalation of Russian Involvement in the Donbas War Chapter 7: Testing External Validity: Support Escalation Theory across Contexts Chapter 8: Conclusion: The Present and Future of Support Escalation

Über Autor(innen)

Giuseppe Spatafora is Analyst for Transatlantic Relations at the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the EU’s agency for security and foreign policy analysis. He earned his PhD from the Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford University, UK.

.