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In his 2023 article, “Mercenary Shocks: What the War in Ukraine Will Eventually Mean for Africa” Raphael Parens discussed what Russia’s mercenary forces in Africa would look like after the war in Ukraine comes to an end. Two years later, we asked him to revisit his analysis in light of the changing face of the Wagner Group and the institutionalization of the mercenary system in Africa.Image: Clément Di Roma via Wikimedia CommonsIn your 2023 article, “Mercenary Shocks: What the War in Ukraine Will Eventually Mean for Africa,” the Wagner Group was a critical component of your overall argument. Since the
