[June 29, 2023] For those of us who study war, geopolitics, and statesmanship and like to understand why there is such a profound difference in modern-Western thought and all other nation-states, welcome to the world of humans. One of those enigmas is Russia; not Western but also not Oriental but Slav. And Slav has meaning in the great history of that culture. Peter Zeihan is someone who has been parsing out what it means to be Russian and yesterday used the Wagner Group as classic Russian.
He says that the Wagner Group is now officially a part of the Russian state. We already knew that the Wagner Group is a Russian state-funded paramilitary organization conducting military operations in foreign nations to give the Russian government plausible deniability for forbidden foreign activities. PMC Wagner, as it is officially known, was founded in 2014 by Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“The legal fiction did allow a degree of separation that gave especially the Europeans pause and anyone who was looking for an excuse to continue normal relations with the Russians, the Germans are at the top of that list, grabbed onto that flimsy bit of legalisms and wouldn’t let go.”
The Wagner Group has been used by Russia in conflicts worldwide, especially in the Middle East and Africa, that can be defined as war crimes. Wagner has been sanctioned by the U.S., and many other Western countries, and its leaders are banned from international travel.
Since Russia has not claimed Wagner Group as a state entity, Wagner is not under state sanction, which is of critical importance to understand but that has changed.
“Well, that changes today now that Vladimir Putin has said that Wagner is and always was part of the Russian state; now, assets of the Russian state can be seized in order to pay for things that Wagner has done in various countries. Anything that Wagner does or has done, Moscow itself is culpable. Since Wagner (and now Russia) has been compensated, not with cash but mineral concessions with gold mines being a favorite, those are now legally all up in the air.”
This change means that Russia is liable to face a new round of punitive sanctions, and the assets of Russia/Wagner can now be seized. The plausible deniability pretext is now gone. Get the popcorn ready. The next target of the West is Russian assets. How does this impact on the Ukraine War? Good question.
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Please read my books:
Good man.
This guy is great. I got a copy of his book.
Hey folks, also, don’t forget to get a copy of “55 Rules for a good life” by Gen. Satterfield. You will appreciate it and thank me for the recommendaiton.
Yep, got my copy and so should everyone reading this blog.
Yes, Peter Zeihan is someone we should be paying attention too. Yes, I agree that he is a bit too much on the climate change stich.
Yep, a great thinker. So few of them in American anymore.
General Doug
Great job 👏
Thanks Eddie!
OUCH! A strategic error by Putin. Not sure why he would say that Wagner is now part of the Russian state. The whole idea was NOT to do that to ensure a bit of separation, even tho smart people knew better. Now it is all out in the hope.
“Well, that changes today now that Vladimir Putin has said that Wagner is and always was part of the Russian state; now, assets of the Russian state can be seized in order to pay for things that Wagner has done in various countries. Anything that Wagner does or has done, Moscow itself is culpable. Since Wagner (and now Russia) has been compensated, not with cash but mineral concessions with gold mines being a favorite, those are now legally all up in the air.”
exactly … putin should be kicked in his ass for this
Wondering minds want to know why! 😜
Too funny old warrior.
Keep up the great work Gen S. Love your website.
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Mr. Zeihan, pretty smart dude. Good commentary.
Yes, I have one of his books too. Well spoken. Thoughful, mostly.
Going to be a fun few months ahead as the Russian war on Ukraine fumbles thru the next stage. I hope the Ukrainians hurry up and crush the Russians. The problem is that Russians don’t like to lose. They take it badly.
Keep up the great work, Gen. Satterfield. We are still here reading your blog everyday and enjoying it immensely.
“55 Rules for a Good Life,” great book.
https://www.amazon.com/55-Rules-Good-Life-Responsibility/dp/1737915529/
Highly recommended by me!!!!!
I love the book, very parctical.
Peter Zeihan, smart and articulate but a bit too much of a liberal for me.
Yes, it biases his content that otherwise would be great. He needs to move away from that.
I agree. Too liberal but old-fashioned liberal. Rare these days. But still has a habit of getting sucked into the climate change ideology along with a few other liberal talking points. Pro-American, mostly.
Gen. Satterfield has talked about Zeihan’s book (one of them) but I recommend a better book by Gen. Satterfield. He refernces them above in a link to Amazon. Get yourself a copy and make a comment on Amazon to help Gen. Satterfield.
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