Key Terms and Definitions

These key terms and definitions presented here are valuable tools at your disposal. While they may not need to be mentioned explicitly in this document, they serve as a comprehensive reference to help you navigate and better understand the complex issues surrounding the state of crises caused by the Wagner Group.

• Wagner Group: A Russian private military company with ties to the Russian government, known for its involvement in various conflicts and crises around the world. The group's activities often include providing military support, training, and advisory services to governments or factions aligned with Russian interests.

• Hybrid Warfare: A military strategy employed by the Wagner Group and other state or non-state actors that combines conventional military tactics with unconventional methods, such as disinformation, cyberattacks, and proxy forces, to achieve strategic objectives without overtly declaring war.

• Proxy Forces: Groups or militias supported and often controlled by a state actor, like the Wagner Group, to carry out military operations on their behalf in foreign conflicts.

• Destabilization: The intentional disruption of a region's political, social, and economic stability, often used as a tool by state and non-state actors to achieve their strategic goals.

• Resource Extraction: The exploitation and export of valuable natural resources, such as oil, gas, minerals, and timber, which is often a motivation for state or non-state actors to engage in conflict or intervene in crises.

• Disinformation Campaigns: Coordinated efforts to spread false or misleading information with the aim of manipulating public opinion, sowing confusion, and creating discord in target regions or countries.

• Gray Zone Conflict: Conflict situations that fall between the traditional definitions of war and peace, where actors like the Wagner Group operate to exploit ambiguity and engage in covert and deniable actions.

• Geopolitical Influence: The ability of a state or group to shape the decisions and behaviors of other states and international actors by leveraging a combination of military, economic, and diplomatic means.

• Crisis Escalation: The process by which a localized conflict or crisis intensifies and spreads, potentially leading to broader regional or international instability.

• International Law and Norms: The body of laws, treaties, and customary practices that govern the conduct of states in international relations, including rules against the use of mercenaries and the prohibition of territorial aggression.