Guns for Hire

Author: Atlantic Council

The Guns for Hire podcast is a production of the Atlantic Councils North Africa Initiative. Taking Libya as its starting point, it explores the causes and implications of the growing use of mercenaries in armed conflict. The podcast features guests from many walks of life, from ethicists and historians to former mercenary fighters. It seeks to understand what the normalisation of private warfare tells us about the world as we currently find it, but also about the future of the international system and about what war could look like in the coming decades. Written and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi.
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Language: en-us

Genres: Science, Social Sciences

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Death is our business
Episode 12
Tuesday, 8 July, 2025

Send Alia a Text MessageAlia is joined by John Lechner to discuss his new book, Death is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare. They chat about the Wagner Group’s soft power strategy in Africa including films and beauty pageants, and its corresponding popularity in places like the Central African Republic, its patterns of recruitment, and how its mercenaries are already “bringing the war home” to Russia. John also reflects on his own experiences interviewing dozens of Russian mercenaries and on being seized and interrogated for two days in Mali. John argues that the Wagner Group’s legacy is drawing Russia into Africa and transforming it into a major security player on a strategic continent. “I do think that if and when we do see a ceasefire in Ukraine, the pool of recruitment for PMCs globally is going to jump incredibly… With the Russians, but I’m sure we’ll see a Ukrainian version of it as well.” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com.