THE PRIVATISATION OF WARFARE: Russian PMC Operations in Africa 🇷🇺
This is the Red Line where we interview three geopolitical experts on one big issue shaping the news both here and overseas. This is a short episode for the Swell app. We've just finished a large investigation into PMCs in Africa and people aren't aware PMCs are private militaries. So most of these guys are effectively paid soldiers. Mercenaires is probably the better way to put them. Although there are some legal definitions around it. Effectively, PMCs have become rife in a number of the theaters around the world
Ophelia Johnson
@LadyO · 1:51
And I remember when the whole thing happened with like, I think it was Blackwater. Those guys from the US and they went into I think it's in Iraq, Afghanistan. I can't remember because they were just like everywhere and all the damage that they caused and none of those guys were ever held accountable, really for killing innocent civilians. So it's really a very fine line that these governments are walking along
And that's something they don't really want to give up at this point, because even if the US government was to regulate themselves, there is no way that particularly the Emiratis or the Russians would do the same thing. This is one of the many tragedies in the Middle East, and it's only going to get worse as PMCs are given a longer lease to commit more crimes because the envelope keeps getting pushed
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:10
But is there any hope for retribution? Is there any hope for people to be punished for their crimes, countries or politicians or corporations when they hire basically killers to go in and do their dirty work? Is there any hope for this to change, or is this just another big, huge fact like climate change, like, it's hard to enter into one area where you say, well, we can make a change here. We do hope for that
Ophelia Johnson
@LadyO · 3:20
Hi, Deborah. Hi, Michael. To your question, Deborah. I don't think so, because as we all know, money is being made a lot of money. And when it comes to money, everybody kind of turns their head and they don't see anything. I think the only way would be if these corporations were maybe brought in from the international courts, the ICC
Robert K
@Neopatriarch · 1:24
Hi, Michael. Thank you for providing that story. I've begun to follow your podcast. I listen to a lot of podcasts, so I want to make sure I hear more of this kind of story. Historically, I'm not sure that this activity is different than state actors have done in the past. But before state actors had that mask of distance, where the world has become very small now. So now they just wrap it in a different way
They're very aware that Russian soldiers dying in Syria, in defensive operations in Syria is seen badly by the Russian electorate, whereas PMC's dying. No one gives a s***. And that's the Americans as well. Australians, South Africans people tend not to be casualties on coming back to the armed forces, as well as the fact they can order things that the government probably couldn't without having major blowback from newspapers