How to Run a Private Military Company
- Author
- Santi Ruiz
- Published
- Fri 28 Feb 2025
- Episode Link
- https://www.statecraft.pub/p/how-the-wagner-group-works
Today’s guest is John Lechner, a writer and researcher. He's here today to talk about his new book about the Wagner Group, a Russian state-funded private military group, or PMC. The book is called Death Is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare, and is out March 4th (you can preorder it here). It’s a crazy read, and draws on multiple trips John took to frontlines in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, and Mali.
As a mutual friend told me, “John knows more about the Wagner Group than anyone not in the Wagner Group.” I asked John to help me better understand how state capacity works, through the lens of private military companies.
Some questions I came into our conversation with:
* How does a private military company (PMC) work? What’s the bureaucratic structure of a PMC?
* How does a successful PMC operate? How does it scale?
* How does a state like Russia use a PMC for its own ends (and how do PMCs use states for their own ends)?
* How do Russian PMCs like Wagner compare to American PMCs like Blackwater?
Read the full transcript of this episode at www.statecraft.pub.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.statecraft.pub
