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Guns for Hire

Atlantic Council

The Guns for Hire podcast is a production of the Atlantic Council’s North Africa Initiative. Taking Libya as its starting point, it explores the causes and implications of the growing use of mercenaries in armed conflict. The podcast features guests from many walks of life, from ethicists and historians to former mercenary fighters. It seeks to understand what the normalisation of private warfare tells us about the world as we currently find it, but also about the future of the international system and about what war could look like in the coming decades. Written and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi.

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  • 21 episodes
  • monthly
  • Avg 51 min
  • English

Episodes 21

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  • S2 · E18
    September 22 · 50 min

    Strait talk: Yemen, mercenaries and the Iran war

    Send Alia a Text Message In this first video episode of the podcast, Alia is joined by Ibrahim Jalal, an expert on Yemen and the Gulf. Ibrahim describes the major escalation in Yemen and explains its timing and connection to Iran's bid to generate a two-strait crisis in advance of US midterm elections. They discuss the Russia and Iran-linked mercenary recruitment networks preying on young men of fighting age: Yemeni bodies may be sourced by the Houthi to fight for Russia in Ukraine in exchange for benefits such as intelligence sharing. They also consider whether ordinary Houthi soldiers are fighting for private gain, given the Houthis’ co-optation of the humanitarian aid system. Throughout, Ibrahim explores deep links to other Iranian-aligned groups in the region, including Iraq’s PMF militias, who were taught to bring down drones by Yemenis. The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E17
    August 19 · 40 min

    Satan’s Chariot: Mercenary trouble in Mali

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia is joined by Wassim Nasr, the veteran French journalist for France24 and Senior Fellow at the Soufan Center. Wassim talks us through the spectacular April 25th offensive across Mali by JNIM, an al-Qaeda affiliate that looks set to soon make a play to take over the whole country. They discuss the setbacks of the Wagner Group – now Africa Corps – campaign to roll back the jihadist advance in Mali, as well as the Kremlin’s goals in the Sahel. Wassim offers his views on the way forward in Mali, and whether it makes sense to negotiate with an al-Qaeda ally like JNIM. Alia and Wassim also cover the high risk of JNIM defections to the Islamic State. The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E16
    May 26 · 39 min

    “Shoot everybody”: US contractors in San Diego court

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia is joined by Daniel McLaughlin, an international lawyer and Legal Director of the Centre for Justice and Accountability (CJA), a California-based legal nonprofit working on behalf of victims of torture and other atrocity crimes. Daniel and CJA are leading a civil suit in San Diego against a Delaware-registered PMC for war crimes in Yemen. They represent the Yemeni parliamentarian Anssaf Ali Mayo, who was one of the targets of an alleged hit-squad in Yemen. Daniel talks us through the explosive facts of the case, how it ended up in a California courtroom ten years later, and which US and international laws were ostensibly broken by the PMC. He also argues forcefully that the US government has a duty to regulate how former members of its military use their training and know-how. The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E15
    March 5 · 51 min

    Fighting mercenaries: A Ukrainian soldier’s perspective

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia sits down with Dimko Zhluktenko, a Ukrainian drone pilot and analyst within the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Ukrainian military. They discuss the realities of drone warfare in Ukraine, as well as the ways in which mercenary forces change the nature and tempo of battle. Dimko describes how he and his comrades are combatting Shahed drones, the psychological mechanisms necessary to keep fighting an army which uses waves of expendable manpower, and the need for NATO to start thinking of drones as bullets. Dimko also talks about how procurement and innovation cycles on both sides of the war are now measured in weeks, and how the geeks of war have turned the tide in Ukraine. The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E14
    February 1 · 1 hr 1 min

    Narco noir: Drugs, gangs and mercenaries in Latin America

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia is joined by Dr Vanda Felbab-Brown, a renowned expert on non-state armed groups and organised crime. They begin by discussing the escalation of gang violence in Haiti over the last year, despite the arrival of the American PMC, Vectus Global, which is led by the Blackwater founder Erik Prince. They go on to explore the bunkering of fuel by colectivos in Venezuela, Hizballah’s continuing narcotics operations across Latin America, the IRGC’s role in drug trafficking, and how the regime in Iran ends. The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E13
    Dec 6, 2025 · 59 min

    “Youth as merchandise”: Iraqi mercenaries in Ukraine

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia is joined by the Iraqi political analyst Mohammed Salih to discuss the legion of Iraqi men turning up on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine. They explore how poverty and political dysfunction in Iraq have been weaponised by mercenary recruitment networks – and how death in Europe has been packaged as an economic opportunity. They consider the possible complicity of prominent Iran-backed militias in Iraq, or even parts of the Iraqi state itself, and the ways in which Iraq’s recent history has made the sale of martial services a normalised part of survival. Mohammed also talks listeners through the implications of Iraq’s November elections, recent attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan, and what options there might be for “disarming” pro-Iran militias in Iraq. "There has been some reporting of Iran-backed militia groups facilitating this human trafficking recruitment scheme for the Russian side... There is the suspicion that there is some sort of an officially permissive environment that allowed this, because it is not happening on a small scale." The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E12
    Jul 8, 2025 · 59 min

    Death is our business

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia is joined by John Lechner to discuss his new book, Death is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare. They chat about the Wagner Group’s soft power strategy in Africa including films and beauty pageants, and its corresponding popularity in places like the Central African Republic, its patterns of recruitment, and how its mercenaries are already “bringing the war home” to Russia. John also reflects on his own experiences interviewing dozens of Russian mercenaries and on being seized and interrogated for two days in Mali. John argues that the Wagner Group’s legacy is drawing Russia into Africa and transforming it into a major security player on a strategic continent. “I do think that if and when we do see a ceasefire in Ukraine, the pool of recruitment for PMCs globally is going to jump incredibly… With the Russians, but I’m sure we’ll see a Ukrainian version of it as well.” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E11
    Jun 4, 2025 · 36 min

    "Yes, really": American PMCs (back) in Gaza

    Send Alia a Text Message In this emergency episode, Alia is joined by the international human rights lawyer and former senior UN official, Craig Mokhiber. They discuss a new, controversial mechanism for the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza – with American PMCs at the core of the system. Craig offers his assessment of why the Israeli-led Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was established, its rejection by the UN and the international aid community for weaponising hunger, as well as the international laws it is breaching. He describes the cruelties and dangers inhering in this new aid system and outlines how individuals, including PMC employees, may be held legally accountable for their participation in the GHF and their association with the IDF’s wider war crimes. "This is not an aid operation. It is an extension of the unlawful Israeli occupation and its plans for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza." The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E10
    Feb 28, 2025 · 48 min

    "Do not come for adventure here": Mercenaries in DRC

    Send Alia a Text Message Host Alia Brahimi is joined on the podcast by the African politics and security expert Ben Shepherd. After 300 Romanian mercenaries were cornered by M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo in January, Ben reflects on the reasons behind the rebels’ advance, as well as the perennial need for DRC’s government to look to external security providers for help with managing threats. They also discuss Rwanda’s support for M23, regional jockeying for access to DRC’s vast mineral wealth, and a recently thwarted coup involving three US nationals. The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E9
    Jan 30, 2025 · 45 min

    “No, really”: American PMCs in Gaza

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia chats with modern warfare expert Dr Andreas Krieg about the sudden deployment of three private military companies to the Netzarim corridor in the Gaza Strip. Andreas examines the risks and opportunities in outsourcing a key task of stabilisation to the market, and of depending on low-profile companies for a high-profile job. He argues that the Israeli Defence Forces have a poor track record when it comes to stabilising any of the territories they have controlled and that Gaza might be a case where the profit motive of PMCs is preferable to the motivations driving two deeply traumatised societies. The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E8
    Dec 23, 2024 · 35 min

    A mercenary client collapses

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia sits down with acclaimed author and former CIA analyst, David McCloskey, to discuss the spectacular collapse of a major mercenary client in Syria. They discuss why, despite their notorious brutality, Bashar Al-Assad’s forces proved so brittle, and who the winners and losers are from the stunning rebel victory. David also talks us through CIA scenario planning around Syria and what spy services might be doing or thinking in relation to Syria right now. The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E7
    Nov 30, 2024 · 1 hr 2 min

    Air force for hire

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia is joined by the mercenaries expert Alessandro Arduino, who is also a top China analyst. They discuss recent seismic leaps in UAV technology and how the cost of drone defence is a magnitude greater than drone offense. They explore the way certain aggressive PMCs are marrying drone capabilities with their mercenary offerings, raising the spectre of air forces for hire. Alessandro also talks us through China’s developing thinking around privatised force, with some in China now pushing for more forceful security around the Belt-and-Road Initiative and the Chinese nationals constructing it. “We have already boots on the ground, meaning an army for hire… So the next step will be to have an air force for hire. Of course, sometimes reality is faster than fiction.” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E6
    Oct 23, 2024 · 54 min

    Sledgehammer: The Wagner cult in Syria

    Send Alia a Text Message Host and Nonresident Senior Fellow Alia Brahimi chats with the defence researcher Jack Margolin about his new book on the Wagner Group. They focus on its operations in support of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and the central place of Syria within the Wagner subculture. They also discuss the ever-present profit motive for the Wagner Group’s leaders, as well as the ways in which grievances born in Syria festered and fostered resentment for many years, before exploding with the Wagner mutiny in June 2023. “[They] focused on this understanding of Slavic culture as being the inheritor of traditional values, but also attaching that to pre-Christian imagery. So you'd see a lot of runes, a lot of celebration of these Slavic pagan deities.” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E5
    Sep 26, 2024 · 1 hr 2 min

    "Borrowed servants"? PMCs and sadism at Abu Ghraib

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia is joined by the international criminal lawyer Katherine Gallagher to explore her litigation against a prominent PMC for war crimes at Abu Ghraib. Katherine talks us through the sixteen-year legal fight on behalf of former Iraqi detainees, the various defences invoked by CACI Premier Technology Inc., and the decision-making around whether to prosecute corporations or individual contractors. She also discusses her role in the case brought against Caterpillar Inc. for the death of Rachel Corrie, and how private corporations involved in warfare are on notice now much more so than twenty years ago. “CACI has largely been saying since the time the first cases were filed… Anything that we were doing, we were doing in service of the United States and therefore we can't be held liable.” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E4
    Jul 27, 2024 · 59 min

    I was a Blackwater mercenary in Iraq

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia is joined by former Blackwater contractor Morgan Lerette. In a wide-ranging conversation about Morgan's experiences, they look at Blackwater’s lax vetting procedures, the tense relationship on the ground between private contractors and the US military, the absence of long-term benefits or a support system for former Blackwater employees, and the prevalence of substance abuse and suicides. Morgan likens private military contractors to a single-serve coffee cup, to be used and discarded at will so that corporations can profit, and governments can avoid committing boots on the ground. “I still don’t know what legal rules and regulations govern private military contractors. And I think there’s a reason for that” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E3
    Jun 26, 2024 · 1 hr 1 min

    Mercenary meatgrinder: The price of Bakhmut

    Send Alia a Text Message Alia is joined by the Russian reporter and photojournalist, David Frenkel, to consider the staggering toll of the “Bakhmut meatgrinder”– Russia’s bloodiest battle since the Second World War. They talk through his latest report from independent Russian news platform Mediazona and the BBC Russian Service, “The Price of Bakhmut”, and David’s methodology for determining which prisoners were recruited and from where. David also examines the numbers that were killed, the question marks over whether promised death payments were made, and why the Wagner Group turned to prisons for manpower in the first place. “This is a long tradition from Soviet times when inmates were used for building factories and deforestation in Siberia and so basically, they came back to that old idea to use inmates as soldiers.” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E2
    May 29, 2024 · 47 min

    What makes Colombian mercenaries so interesting?

    Send Alia a Text Message Host Alia Brahimi speaks with Dr Andrés Macías, a Bogota-based expert on Colombian mercenaries. They begin by discussing the explosive case of 26 Colombian nationals arrested for their part in the 2021 assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse. Andrés goes on to look at the thousands of Colombians who enlist under the banner of the UAE, what’s driving hundreds of Colombians to sign up to fight Russia in Ukraine, and what makes former Colombian soldiers so interesting to the international private security market. “What is the Colombian government doing with the huge number of veterans that we have had throughout the years? Because actually, we don’t know so much about what they are doing, what activities they are performing, and what is their status.” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S2 · E1
    Apr 24, 2024 · 48 min

    American hit-squad in Yemen

    Send Alia a Text Message In the season two opener of the Guns for Hire podcast, Alia chats with Emmy award-winning BBC investigative journalist Nawal Al-Maghafi about her film exposing American mercenaries in Yemen. One of the few journalists to report from Yemen first-hand, Nawal discusses the Delaware-registered PMC contracted by the UAE to kill “terrorists”, her meetings with two of the Americans involved, and the PMC’s training of Yemeni units – including former al-Qaeda operatives – to conduct targeted assassinations. “He knows these guys aren’t terrorists. This was a business deal. He knew what he was doing but he will never say it.” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S1 · E10
    Jan 9, 2024 · 49 min

    Mercenaries and Gaza

    Send Alia a Text Message In Episode 10 of the Guns for Hire podcast, host Alia Brahimi is joined by Renad Mansour, an expert on Iraq, Iran and allied groups. As the region convulses from the war in Gaza, they begin by assessing reports that the Wagner Group has been tasked with transferring a Russian air defence system from Syria to Hizballah in Lebanon. They go on to discuss the rivalry between Russia and Iran in the Middle East, what is motivating the non-state actors leading the bid to avenge Gazans, and whether elements of the Iran-backed Shi’a militia that have fanned out across the region can be classed as mercenaries. Alia and Renad also consider parallels between the campaign in Gaza and the violence and futility of the 2003 Iraq war. “There will be within these networks and this massive web of [Shi’a] armed groups those that are economically inclined, those that do see economic opportunity in trade or in taking advantage of conflict” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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  • S1 · E9
    Nov 28, 2023 · 1 hr 2 min

    What's Charlie Sheen got to do with it?

    Send Alia a Text Message In episode nine of the Guns for Hire podcast, host Alia Brahimi speaks with the Russia analyst Sergey Sukhankin about the 2019 arrest in Libya of the Wagner Group political operative Maksim Shugaley and the Russian propaganda campaign to free him. They discuss Russian political and media operations in Africa, from Libya to Madagascar, and how Russia fundamentally lacks the ideological and financial enticements of the Soviet Union or of China. “This goes back to Soviet times when the Soviet Union was inviting people like [George] Bernard Shaw and many other public figures… Today Russia is using virtually the same playbook.” The Guns for Hire podcast is written, produced and hosted by Dr Alia Brahimi. Get in touch at: gunsforhirepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to Alia's (free) Substack, "highly irregular": https://highlyirregular.substack.com/

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