What were indirect conflicts between powers during the Cold War called?
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You are looking for the term, "Proxy Wars." Given the competing nature of both sets of ideologies between the Soviets and the Americans, both nations sought to settle their differences around the world. Europe had alread been divided into "West" and "East." The new domains became areas around the world. Nations that were newly emergent from Colonialism were seeking to define themselves. These areas proved to be fertile grounds for both Soviet and American forces to wage battle without doing battle against one another.
The proxy war became the way that these battles were seen. Proxy wars in nations like Vietnam or Nicaragua were evident. Proxy war elements were seen in places like Iran, where intervention from the United States was perceived as needed to remove a Socialist leader. In the end, the proxy war was a situation in which conflicts were never fought directly between the major powers of the world, but through a series of indirect conflicts.
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