U.S. Foreign Policy
Don’t relax, Europe — the US hard right isn’t finished yet
Russia’s Wagner Group, a network of private military, economic, political manipulation, and misinformation companies, achieved outsized impact in global geopolitics over the past decade. With the sales pitch of providing counterterrorism services and serving as a praetorian guard of regimes in power, the Wagner network promoted the Kremlin’s efforts in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to oppose the United States and the West. It also acquired valuable resources for Russia, established outposts of Russian influence, and contributed to Russia’s war on Ukraine, including the bloody battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut. Yet when Wagner’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin began threatening the Russian leadership, the Kremlin moved to decapitate and restructure the Wagner Group.
On September 21, the Brookings Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors and the Center on the United States and Europe convened top experts to discuss Wagner’s military, political, economic, and misinformation operations, what restructuring of the group was underway, and what lies ahead for Russia’s proxy activities.
Audience Q&A followed the moderated discussion. Viewers submitted questions for speakers via email to [email protected] and via Twitter using #WagnerGroup.
Agenda
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September 21
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Featured discussion
The legacy and future of the Wagner Group
Russia’s Wagner Group, a network of private military, economic, political manipulation, and misinformation companies, achieved outsized impact in global geopolitics over the past decade. With the sales pitch of providing counterterrorism services and serving as a praetorian guard of regimes in power, the Wagner network promoted the Kremlin’s efforts in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to oppose the United States and the West. It also acquired valuable resources for Russia, established outposts of Russian influence, and contributed to Russia’s war on Ukraine, including the bloody battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut. Yet when Wagner’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin began threatening the Russian leadership, the Kremlin moved to decapitate and restructure the Wagner Group.
On September 21, the Brookings Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors and the Center on the United States and Europe will convene top experts to discuss Wagner’s military, political, economic, and misinformation operations, what restructuring of the group is underway, and what lies ahead for Russia’s proxy activities.
Audience Q&A will follow the moderated discussion. Viewers may submit questions for speakers via email to [email protected] or via Twitter using #WagnerGroup.
Vanda Felbab-Brown Director - Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors, Co-Director - Africa Security Initiative, Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology @VFelbabBrown
Kimberly Marten Professor of Political Science, Barnard College - Columbia University @KimberlyMarten
Candace Rondeaux Senior Director, Future Frontlines and Planetary Politics - New America, Professor of Practice - Arizona State University @CandaceRondeauxModerator
Constanze Stelzenmüller Director - Center on the United States and Europe, Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe, Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and Trans-Atlantic Relations @ConStelz
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