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Military interventions are used to contribute and, often, to exacerbate conflict, in efforts to expand economic and geopolitical influence. Securing resources, leveraging alliances and protecting trade routes are just some of the motivations behind foreign military involvement. In addition to sending official military units, these strategic objectives are also achieved by the inclusion of more covert tactics, such as the use of private military contractors.
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The involvement of foreign armies in conflicts around the world highlights the complexities of international relations and geopolitical interests, and provides a look into modern warfare.
In 2021, approximately 1,500 mercenaries were sent to Mali by the Wagner group, a Russian proxy army. They fought alongside Mali's army, replacing other foreign combatants, such as French troops, to fight against militants affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
Mali’s desire to destroy separatist groups grew as they began expelling UN peacekeepers. The government had its sights on the border with Algeria, around a town called Tinzaouaten.
The convoy of Wagner mercenaries, likely transported on government military vehicles, was struck by militant groups. A sandstorm offered an opportunity to strike, and dozens of mercenaries and Malian military members were killed.
Video retrieved from body cameras of slain Wagner militants shows threats of sexual assault made against the local population for information. While the incident occurred sometime during the summer of 2024, the footage was only made public through Telegram channels in November 2024.
Russia has spent years infiltrating foreign conflicts through the Wagner group, sending mercenaries that are known to do the dirty work for authoritarian leaders. The Wagner group has recruited former prisoners and those facing financial hardships with military knowledge to fight on foreign soil, particularly in Africa.
Wagner mercenaries come to foreign lands as fighting abroad is much more profitable and, usually, safer than close to home. While the war between Russia and Ukraine rages on, Russia continues sending fighters to fund the war at home.
Mali isn’t the only place Russian groups have gotten involved. Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, and Mozambique, are just a few examples of their roles in other conflicts abroad. Historically, the list goes on.
American mercenaries, too, are waging war abroad. A 2024 BBC investigation into war crimes in Yemen documented the use of American, as well as Israeli, mercenaries from the Spear Operations Group. This private military was hired by the United Arab Emirates in their war on Yemen.
The group, founded by a Hungarian-Israeli security contractor, hired American fighters, largely comprised of US special forces veterans, to train Yemeni forces. They have also been accused of recruiting Al-Qaeda members to join their efforts.
The majority of assassinations conducted by the group are said to be of political and social activists. Similar to the motivations of Wagner group members, ideological beliefs about wars abroad and the seduction of easy money drew many recruits.
The US’s cooperation with authoritarian governments abroad often includes military packages and arms sales. The United Arab Emirates is one of America’s best customers in this regard.
Yemen isn’t the only place where Americans are involved in conflicts abroad. In 2023, nearly 10,000 contractors and over 2,500 military troops were in Iraq and Syria. A report by Politico refers to their presence as a “robust global mercenary market.”
The former Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in 2021 by Colombian mercenaries with ties to a US-based private military contractor. Countless recent examples follow in Libya, Venezuela, and others.
Israel has long been accused of using mercenaries from countries like the US, Spain, South Africa, Ukraine, and France. A number of countries, including France and South Africa, have promised to prosecute their citizens waging war in Gaza and Lebanon on behalf of Israel.
An investigative report by El Mundo included an interview with a Spanish mercenary in the Israeli army, who claims that weekly payments of approximately $4,300 attract foreign fighters.
A 2014 report by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor estimated that, at the time, there were at least 6,000 foreign mercenaries in the Israeli army, with nearly one-third coming from the US alone.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that future plans for post-war Gaza include setting up gated communities on even smaller pieces of land—similar to the current siege on Gaza, but with even tighter controls—managed by private contractors, while Israeli settlements are built around them.
The role of private contractors isn’t new in Gaza or elsewhere but the escalation of conflict through these methods is worrisome and offers very little accountability or public knowledge on what’s actually happening abroad.
Reports of foreign militaries, on the other hand, are just as concerning. South Korean support for the Ukrainian army has been well documented. Arms, aid, and other technologies have been provided to fend off Russian advancements.
Simultaneously, reports of North Korean troops and military support for Russia have extended the conflict between North and South Korea into foreign wars, with the countries supporting the different sides as part of ideological positioning.
With the development of North Korean troops being sent to fight on behalf of Russia, South Korea, too, has begun to consider doing the same in Ukraine. The spillover of other conflicts to exacerbate tensions elsewhere is a legacy of Cold War tactics.
American and Russian governments, respectively, have taken opposing sides in support of conflicts throughout the world. The struggles of decolonization throughout Africa and Asia, as well as civil wars in the Caribbean and South America, in particular, demonstrate the historical context of the two nations’ opposition.
The current war in Ukraine shows the same. The American support for Ukraine’s war efforts has also been analyzed as a proxy for the American opposition to all Russian power acquisition attempts.
Similarly, British and French troops have historically placed themselves in conflicts throughout the world. The UK’s long alliance with the US has often resulted in British support for American wars abroad. Support for American wars abroad due to shared interests has underlined cooperation, and therefore, resulted in British troops stationed throughout the Middle East and the African continent.
Members of MI6, the British Secret Service, have also branched out to form their own private militarized forces (G4S and Aegis, among others).
In France, the Défense Conseil International, Chiron, Anticip, and more are ‘unofficial’ military units that are used in Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Africa.
Warfare has changed significantly over the last couple of centuries. Unimagined advancements in terms of technology and weaponry have dramatically changed how warfare occurs on the ground, yet international law, governance, and sovereignty are still the key points on which most of our dialogue and analysis are based.
The use of mercenaries seems outdated in this context, and while it is largely outlawed in terms of national laws, the commodification of foreign military capacities isn’t new by any means. With more and more conflict taking place not between states but between states and groups, private military forces will continue to cultivate increased power.
During the Rwandan genocide, Executive Outcomes, a mercenary group from South Africa, made an offer to the United Nations: for US$120 million, they would end the genocide. At that time, then-Secretary-General of the UN Kofi Annan responded by stating that peace shouldn’t be privatized. Nearly one million people were massacred.
While many would agree that it shouldn’t be up to private military companies to end conflicts and foster "peace," war and conflict have been privatized. In the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the ratio of private contractors to American soldiers was one-to-one; 15% of which were mercenaries. And that was over 20 years ago. We can imagine what the numbers look like in today's conflicts.
Like those of the Wagner group, killed in Mali in the summer of 2024, in the context of violent wars, contractors are viewed as disposable. While they are motivated by high salaries, which is also relative to where they come from, no veteran benefits are provided to them or their families. A former mercenary referred to this as the “globalization of private force.”
Do these private forces achieve the goals of particular missions? Do they do so while undermining international law, best practices, and established norms? That’s likely what makes them attractive to the supply and demand market in conflicts. In contrast with the use of official military units that are under greater scrutiny from their citizens and governments, these private military units can work in collaboration with government interests without the same level of accountability.
Sources: (The New York Times) (Bloomberg) (ACLED) (BBC) (SOFREP) (CorpWatch) (Politico) (PBS) (Haaretz) (El Mundo) (EMHRM) (DW) (National Defense University Press)
See also: Blood and sweat: The exploitation of labor behind the arms industry
When foreign fighters enter global conflicts
The outsourcing of conflict
LIFESTYLE Geopolitics
Military interventions are used to contribute to, and often exacerbate, conflict, in efforts to expand economic and geopolitical influence. Securing resources, leveraging alliances, and protecting trade routes are just some of the motivations behind foreign military involvement. In addition to sending official military units, these strategic objectives are also achieved by the inclusion of more covert tactics, such as the use of private military contractors.
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