Do mercenaries perform better than states? Evaluating the Wagner group’s impact on Central African Republic

Ori Swed and Alessandro Arduino

Small Wars and Insurgencies, 2025, vol. 36, issue 1, 59-86

Abstract: Do mercenaries perform better than democratic state armies? This study examines the efficacy of mercenary groups compared to state military interventions, using the Wagner Group’s operations in the Central African Republic as a case study. By comparing the French Operation Sangaris (2013–2016) with Wagner’s involvement (2021–2023), the research evaluates their relative effectiveness across counterinsurgency measures, military success, and popular responses. Utilizing data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, the analysis reveals that the Wagner Group outperformed the French intervention in most metrics, including territorial gains, geographical spread of operations, and reduction of civil unrest. These findings challenge prevailing assumptions about mercenaries’ ineffectiveness. The study suggests that the Wagner Group’s perceived effectiveness, despite its controversial reputation and association to human rights violations, explains its appeal to African governments seeking security solutions. This research contributes to ongoing debates about the role of private military companies in conflict zones and has implications for understanding the changing dynamics of security provision in Africa and beyond.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09592318.2024.2418675 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:fswixx:v:36:y:2025:i:1:p:59-86

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/fswi20

DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2024.2418675

Access Statistics for this article

Small Wars and Insurgencies is currently edited by Paul Rich

More articles in Small Wars and Insurgencies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().