Russian proxy or rogue mercenary army? Situating the Wagner Group

• Název práce v češtině: Ruská proxy nebo armáda zlotřilých žoldáků? Kontextualizace Wagnerovy skupiny
• Název v anglickém jazyce: Russian proxy or rogue mercenary army? Situating the Wagner Group
• Klíčová slova anglicky: Security, Open Source Intelligence, Non-State Actors, Mercenaries, Private Security Companies, Private Military Companies, Russia, Wagner Group, Russian Hybrid Warfare, Proxy Warfare, PMC Wagner, Semi-state forces.
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2021/2022
• Typ práce: diplomová práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Katedra bezpečnostních studií (23-KBS)
• Vedoucí / školitel: prof. Mgr. Oldřich Bureš, Ph.D., M.A.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno a potvrzeno stud. odd.
• Datum přihlášení: 25.10.2021
• Datum zadání: 25.10.2021
• Datum potvrzení stud. oddělením: 16.06.2022
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 14.09.2022 10:00
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 20.07.2022
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 14.09.2022
• Oponenti: Dr. Huseyn Aliyev

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Předběžná náplň práce v anglickém jazyce

The Wagner Group is an umbrella term referring to a network of mercenary groups, extraction
companies, and political strategists linked to the Kremlin by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. Wagner has
spread throughout Africa, the Middle East, and South America. Characterized by obscured activities and
denied by the Kremlin, Wagner escapes conventional definitions of a Private Military and Security
Company (PMSC) in both practice and theory. The pervasive labelling of Wagner as a “PMC” makes it
difficult to effectively engage with the group at either an academic or policy level. Therefore, a
scholarship situating Wagner in relation to PMSC literature would provide a platform to address Wagner
across academic and political platforms. This project aims to fill that gap by situating Wagner in relation
to current PMSC and mercenary literature. This will be accomplished by an extensive review of the
current literature, followed by synthesizing PMSC definitions and categories that are relevant into the
contemporary field. Once this has been established a comparative analysis of a variety of the Wagner
Group’s global activities will allow us to assess where Wagner sits amongst these definitions and
categories. Addressing this gap in the literature will provide a new and effective platform for engaging
with Wagner and an academic level, as well as providing a significantly clearer lens from which to
examine them.