Dr Rauta is a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations with the School of Politics, Economics, and International Relations at the University of Reading.

Dr Rauta holds a PhD in international relations from the University of Nottingham and his research sits at the intersection of conflict research and the study of international security. It uses proxy wars as a vehicle to explore the delegation of war from states to armed non-state actors in the contemporary security environment. This is a significant problem spanning global politics. As recently witnessed with the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars, or the Russian indirect war in the East of Ukraine, analysing the effects of proxy wars in a broader security and strategic context is at the forefront of international relations. To this end, Vladimir’s research asks relevant questions about proxy wars that speak directly to key dilemmas facing policymakers today.

Published in journals such as International Relations, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, RUSI Journal, and Contemporary Security Policy, Dr Rauta’s research has contributed to the shaping of a second wave of proxy war studies in which the historical narrative is questioned against the causal concerns of ‘why’ and ‘how’. To this end, Vladimir has focused on conceptual, typological, and theoretical issues as meta-theoretical building blocks for developing proxy war research into a self-standing sub-field. He is currently working on a book project analysing the contemporary dynamics of proxy wars with a focus on the Middle East, out in 2021 with I. B. Tauris.

Dr Vladimir Rauta tweets @VladimirRauta