Guests Dr. Colin Clarke and Raphael Parens join host Col. Dave Brown and co-host Dr. Christopher Faulkner to discuss the Wagner Group’s rise and fall, as well as what’s happened to the group since the death of its leader in August 2023. Private military companies (PMCs) have been around for decades, but Russia’s use of these private military entities has become an increasingly prominent feature of its overall foreign policy, and the Kremlin has made extensive use of them across the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and Ukraine. One of the most well-known of these PMCs in security circles is the infamous “Wagner Group,” which burst on the international scene in 2014, but became increasingly visible after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Articles:

• Wagner Group: Where Are They Now?, C. Clarke, C. Faulkner & R. Parens, FPRI, 29 Nov 23
• Commentary: “Who Thinks Wins”: How Smarter U.S. Counterterrorism in the Sahel Can Pay Dividends for Great Power Competition, C. Faulkner, R. Parens & M. Plichta, CTC Sentinel, Apr 23 – Vol 16 – Issue 4
• How Russia’s Wagner Group Is Fueling Terrorism in Africa, C. Clarke, Foreign Policy, Jan 25.
• After Prigozhin: The Future of the Wagner Model in Africa, C. Faulkner, R. Parens & M. Plichta, CTC Sentinel, Sept 23 – Vol 16 – Issue 9
• Mercenary Shocks: What the War in Ukraine Will Eventually Mean for Africa?, R. Parens, WOTR, 17 Feb 23
• Niger’s Pivot to Moscow: What’s Next for US Engagement in Africa?, R. Parens, C. Faulkner & M. Plichta, FPRI, 5 Apr
• The West Needs to Prepare for the ‘Next Wagner’ in Africa, C. Faulkner, R. Parens & M. Plichta, WPR, 20 Jul 23

Guests:

Colin P. Clarke, Ph.D., Director of Research and Senior Research Fellow at The Soufan Group (TSG), an intelligence and security consulting firm based in New York City. He is also an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter Terrorism (ICCT) - The Hague, and a non-resident Senior Fellow in the Program on National Security at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). Prior to joining TSG, Clarke was a professor in the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. He appears in the media frequently to discuss global security, conflict, and terrorism, and is the author of several books, including After the...

Guests Dr. Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware join host Col. Dave Brown and co-host Dr. Timothy Hoyt to discuss the modern growth of Far-Right terrorism in the United States; its definitions and distinctions, historical roots, major groups, recruitment, connections to U.S. military services, international expansion, and policy options in confronting these emerging militant movements.

Articles:

• God, Guns, and Sedition - Far-Right Terrorism in America, B. Hoffman & J. Ware, Columbia University Press, Jan 2024
• Why the Far-Right Terrorist Threat Is Often Misunderstood and Underestimated, B. Hoffman & J. Ware, CFR, 26 Feb
• The Urgent Mission to Counter Military Extremism, B. Hoffman & J. Ware, U.S. NEWS, 19 Jan 2024
• How the United States Became a Leading Exporter of White Supremacist Terrorism, B. Hoffman & J. Ware, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sept 23
• The Terrorist Threats and Trends to Watch Out for in 2023 and Beyond, B. Hoffman & J. Ware, CTC Sentinel, Nov/Dec 2022, Vol 15, Issue 11.

Guests:

Bruce Hoffman, Ph.D. Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis senior fellow for counterterrorism and homeland security at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He has been studying terrorism and insurgency for almost half a century. He is a professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, and professor emeritus of terrorism studies at the University of St Andrews; and the George H. Gilmore Senior Fellow at the US Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center. He is the author of a number of books including Inside Terrorism, 3rd edition.

Jacob Ware: Research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where he studies domestic and international terrorism and counterterrorism. He was previously a research associate for counterterrorism at CFR. In addition to his work at CFR, Ware is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he teaches a class on domestic terrorism. He also serves on the editorial boards for the academic journal Studies in Conflict & Terrorism and the Irregular Warfare Initiative at the Modern War Institute at West Point.

Guests Jada Fraser and Dr. Scott Edwards join host Col. Dave Brown and co-host Dr. Curtis Bell to analyze the continuing and growing need for broad and comprehensive maritime collaboration to protect shared commerce and increase security across the vastness of the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific.

Articles:

• The Quad, AUKUS, and I2U2 formats: Major lessons from mini-laterals; J. Fraser, M. Soliman, 28 Jun 23
• An Allied Coast Guard Approach to Countering CCP Maritime Gray Zone Coercion; J. Fraser, 29 Mar 23
• Prospects for the Quad Coast Guards to Cooperate Toward Implementation of the Free and Open Indo- Pacific Vision; J. Bradford, K. Koga, S. Edwards, 12 Jun 23
• Fragmentation, Complexity and Cooperation: Understanding Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security Governance; S. Edwards, April 2022
• Surrounding the Ocean: PRC Influence in the Indian Ocean; D. Baruah, 18 Apr 23
• The Indo-Pacific Strategy: 2 Years Later; U.S. Dept of State, 14 Feb
• The Indian Ocean Strategic Map, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Freq Updated.

Guests:

Curtis Bell, Ph.D. – Associate Professor and Director of the Maritime Security and Governance Staff Course at the U.S. Naval War College. He has worked on five continents and presented to audiences including the African Union and United Nations. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, Economist, several academic journals. He is also the founder of Stable Seas, and developer of the Maritime Security Index.

Jada Fraser: Graduate student in Asian Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where she also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs. Ms. Fraser recently studied Japanese in Tokyo and served on an internship with US Indo-PACOM command. She is an author in her own right on aspects of countering China maritime coercion and particularly security alliance partnering in the Pacific.

Scott Edwards, Ph.D.: Lecturer at the University of Reading and Research Fellow at the Yokosuka Council on Asia Pacific Studies. Dr. Edwards’ research and publication interests center on Southeast Asia’s maritime issues and the building of maritime security governance, within the Indo-Pacific. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, and was formerly a postdoctoral research associate at both the University of Bristol and at the University of Leeds.