There is a stigma around the term ‘proxy’. It invokes a caricature of a puppet master pulling strings. In the context of conflict, it suggests that one party is being forced to fight and die at the direction of a more powerful party. In reality, there are no puppets, only actors with layered motivations and abilities.

Of all the wars Trump claims to have resolved, the peace initiative between Azerbaijan and Armenia may be the most strategically significant. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been alternating between hot wars and frozen conflicts for the last 37 years.

A proud member of the Union since 2013, Croatia has recently advanced its own integration by joining the Eurozone in January 2023, setting a precedent for neighboring states (Walker, 2023). Yet, increasing political turbulence risks undermining the progress and discrediting the EU.

It is evident that these global issues require united and sustainable solutions, but this article aims to identify how the state of global politics and power may shift in the age of resource anxiety. Control over water and food sources is a form of geopolitical currency.

Are we killing because this is the General’s order? Are we letting civilians die because we elude our conscience by telling ourselves “That is just a casualty”? Is the endgame sought in “how many killed” or are we all just too hot-blooded to end any game at all?

War can no longer be seen as a local failure; it is reproducing itself within a system that has failed to regulate it. And democracies, far from being immune, are active participants. The challenge is no longer just to stop a war. It is to prevent more from joining the wave.