Because perpetual conflict enhances control, offers economic benefits, and allows leaders to ignore popular preferences.
Angie Omar
{
"authors": [
"Tim Maurer"
],
"type": "other",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "TIA",
"programs": [
"Technology and International Affairs"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"North America",
"United States",
"Middle East",
"Iran"
],
"topics": [
"Security",
"Technology"
]
}Source: Getty
More than 30 countries are pursuing offensive cyber capabilities. These states rely on hackers that are not part of the intelligence community–cyber mercenaries or, more broadly, cyber proxies.
Source: Washington Quarterly
Non-liberal democracies are delegating, orchestrating, or passively supporting cyber proxies to conduct offensive cyber actions, affecting international peace and security. Developing a more robust and comprehensive strategy, particularly in international law enforcement among other approaches, is needed to more effectively address cyber proxies in the long term.
Tim Maurer
Former Senior Fellow, Technology and International Affairs Program
Dr. Tim Maurer was a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Technology and International Affairs program.
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
Because perpetual conflict enhances control, offers economic benefits, and allows leaders to ignore popular preferences.
Angie Omar
Debate is heating up on how Turkey could be integrated into a common European defense framework. Commercial and industrial deals offer a better chance at alignment than sweeping political efforts.
Marc Pierini
As the monarchy appears to question its grandest projects, the state could do with more critical debate than rote cheerleading.
Andrew Leber
After spending much of 2025 trying to placate Donald Trump, some European leaders are starting to change posture. But is even a hostile Washington still so important to Europe that the U.S. president’s outbursts are worth putting up with?
Rym Momtaz, ed.
Drawing on ten public discussions from the India AI Impact Summit 2026, this article highlights key outlooks on open source in AI that are likely to shape policy and governance conversations going forward.
Shruti Mittal