Mercenary groups were a major part of premodern history, before being largely replaced by standing national armies. But in the past few decades, armed mercenary companies have again become major players in conflicts around the world. The U.S. employed Blackwater mercenaries to carry out operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the United Arab Emirates used paid mercenaries to carry out assassinations in Yemen.

But in recent years, the most powerful example of a mercenary group has been Russia’s Wagner Group. Wagner fighters have conducted operations in Syria, the Central African Republic, Ukraine, and other parts of the world, leaving a trail of atrocities. As Drop Site News’s Murtaza Hussain says, Wagner is an example of how war may be organized in a globalized future characterized by weak states and ruthless capitalism.

Hussain is joined this week by John Lechner, a journalist and author of “Death Is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare.” Hussain and Lechner discuss the history of mercenaries, the Wagner Group, and the operations they take part in around the world.

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