Risks of Private Military Companies for the Country of Origin: The Case of Wagner

Abstract

Due to the recent changes in the nature of wars, hybrid wars have become widespread, and private military companies have become an important tool in the war strategies of states, especially of those with global goals. While private military companies provide various advantages to countries of origin, they also pose some threats. Wagner has been the most important military company of the Russian Federation, which desires to gain influence in global politics and instrumentalizes private military companies in its foreign policy. However, the rebellion attempt of Wagner has made the risks posed by private military companies to countries of origin debatable again. Wagner started to make a name for itself by taking part in Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and has turned into a useful device for Russia, but its rebellion revealed that such structures can cause serious national security problems for the states to which they belong if they cannot be kept under control. Discussing the risks posed by private military companies to countries of origin through the example of Wagner; this study evaluates Wagner’s role and influence in Russian politics and examines the threats it poses to Russia. This study, uses historical and descriptive methodology and is based on the hypothesis that “private military companies may pose a risk to the country of origin when they become excessively powerful and operate in nearby geographies.”

Keywords

• russia
• ukraine
• wagner
• private military companies
• hybrid warfare