The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on since February 24, 2022. No one has won or lost the war so far. However, the bloodbath has continued for the past 16 months. Billions of dollars are being spent every day. But, no one seems to be worried about that. Perhaps, the global community has endured this New Normal.
Interestingly, Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch, mercenary leader and former close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, stole the limelight by launching a rebellion against the Russian strongman in June 2023. Prigozhin controls a network of influential companies, mainly the Wagner private military company that used to receive support from the Russian State, as well as three other companies which were accused of interfering in the 2016 and 2018 US Presidential Elections. Reports suggest that Prigozhin's private Army has been fighting against Ukraine for President Putin for the last 16 months. The oligarch stunned the world by declaring that he would dethrone the President, and would take control of the Kremlin. However, Putin managed to take the situation under control, which prompted Prigozhin to hide himself.
Institutionalised Mercenaries
Until the 20th Century, the Army used to fight for their country. However, it has become an old concept in the 21st Century, with war becoming an industry. It has become quite difficult for the Army of a country to fight a war mainly because of various international rules and regulations. Nowadays, no one can torture or execute Prisoners of War. Moreover, each and every country wants to avoid civilian casualties. Even death of military personnel can trigger anti-Government protests in case of a war. Hence, powerful nations try to avoid armed conflict. Now, there are various corporate companies, who rent their soldiers out to fight wars for any country. What were once called mercenary soldiers are now institutionalised in corporate form. Wagner is one such company owned by Prigozhin.
Prigozhin's Army did not even have 5,000 soldiers just five years ago. Now, Wagner has more than 50,000 soldiers. The majority of them are Gurkhas from Nepal, while the rest are from Albania, Romania and some other poor countries. Pakistan had recruited some Afghan mercenaries to fight the Kargil War (May 3 - July 26, 1999) against India. However, no private company had supplied those mercenary soldiers to Pakistan. In recent times, the entire recruitment process has become quite organised and has got a corporate structure. Blackwater, the world's most powerful mercenary Army, rented their soldiers to the US in order to fight the war in Iraq. This company prevented the US Army from suffering heavy casualties.
Professor Yuval Noah Harari, an Israeli historian, philosopher and best-selling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, penned a book, titled 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, in 2018. In this publication, he predicted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) would soon make many people unemployed. According to Professor Harari, it would be a major challenge for the political leaders to meaningfully engage those unemployed youths in the coming years.
The Israeli author's prediction has come true. AI has really gone to another level, and maybe 80% of humans would not need to work anymore in a decade. Now, people, like Prigozhin, are there to solve the problem. They will hire these youths at a cheap wage to take part in war. In the world maddened with violence, war has already started taking a corporate form. Maybe, betting will take place during a war between Blackwater and Wagner in future. One might smile and ask someone else: "Which side are you fighting for?"
Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook
Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter
Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin
Contact: kousdas@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment