Russian and Iranian Proxy Forces Are Baffling the U.S.

“What do rocket strikes by Shiite militias in Iraq, ransomware attacks on targets in the U.S., and Russia’s use of mercenaries on battlefields in the Middle East have in common? They are part of a trend in which America’s rivals are using nonstate actors and quasi-deniable means to put pressure on its interests,” Bloomberg reports.

“Washington is frequently finding itself on the business end of a classic strategy — proxy warfare — for which it has yet to devise an effective answer.”