Episode 5: Wagner - The Rise and Fall of a Russian Mercenary Group

The Trident

Guests Dr. Colin Clarke and Raphael Parens join host Col. Dave Brown and co-host Dr. Christopher Faulkner to discuss the Wagner Group’s rise and fall, as well as what’s happened to the group since the death of its leader in August 2023. Private military companies (PMCs) have been around for decades, but Russia’s use of these private military entities has become an increasingly prominent feature of its overall foreign policy, and the Kremlin has made extensive use of them across the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and Ukraine. One of the most well-known of these PMCs in security circles is the infamous “Wagner Group,” which burst on the international scene in 2014, but became increasingly visible after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Articles:

• Wagner Group: Where Are They Now?, C. Clarke, C. Faulkner & R. Parens, FPRI, 29 Nov 23
• Commentary: “Who Thinks Wins”: How Smarter U.S. Counterterrorism in the Sahel Can Pay Dividends for Great Power Competition, C. Faulkner, R. Parens & M. Plichta, CTC Sentinel, Apr 23 – Vol 16 – Issue 4
• How Russia’s Wagner Group Is Fueling Terrorism in Africa, C. Clarke, Foreign Policy, Jan 25.
• After Prigozhin: The Future of the Wagner Model in Africa, C. Faulkner, R. Parens & M. Plichta, CTC Sentinel, Sept 23 – Vol 16 – Issue 9
• Mercenary Shocks: What the War in Ukraine Will Eventually Mean for Africa?, R. Parens, WOTR, 17 Feb 23
• Niger’s Pivot to Moscow: What’s Next for US Engagement in Africa?, R. Parens, C. Faulkner & M. Plichta, FPRI, 5 Apr
• The West Needs to Prepare for the ‘Next Wagner’ in Africa, C. Faulkner, R. Parens & M. Plichta, WPR, 20 Jul 23

Guests:

Colin P. Clarke, Ph.D., Director of Research and Senior Research Fellow at The Soufan Group (TSG), an intelligence and security consulting firm based in New York City. He is also an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter Terrorism (ICCT) - The Hague, and a non-resident Senior Fellow in the Program on National Security at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). Prior to joining TSG, Clarke was a professor in the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. He appears in the media frequently to discuss global security, conflict, and terrorism, and is the author of several books, including After the Caliphate: The Islamic State and the Future Terrorist Diaspora.

Raphael Parens, Fellow in FPRI’s Eurasia Program and an international security researcher focused on Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He specializes in African security, paramilitary groups, and Eurasian security. Raphael has been published in Foreign Affairs, West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) Sentinel magazine, War on the Rocks, and FPRI. His work was recently published in a French-language anthology, Les défis sécuritaires en Afrique. He has been cited in the U.S. Congressional Testimony, and he has been interviewed for a variety of pieces on the Wagner Group.