Foreign fighters flocking to warzones

Opinion

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This article was published 24/09/2024 (371 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some observers speculate Donald Trump’s latest would-be assassin was motivated by the former president’s indifference to Ukraine. Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old owner of a construction company in Hawaii, travelled to the country often and self-published a book advocating for its defence against Russia.

He also repeatedly tried to join Ukraine’s foreign legion. The army corps consists of volunteer fighters from abroad — mostly ex-military personnel — who receive a small monthly stipend. Routh’s applications were rejected for numerous reasons. But his persistent attempts to enlist for Ukraine underscores the sharp rise of foreign fighters worldwide.

Armed conflicts this past decade, both big and small, have trended toward being endless slow-burn affairs. Much of this traces back to how great power competition is causing a breakdown in multilateralism. Norms around the use of force are being steadily eroded amid the displacement of the attention and political capital necessary to end violence after it starts.

Aspiring regional powers are thus liberated to meddle in forgotten wars to their benefit — often via proxies. The internet and a diffuse global economy also enables non-state actors to easily organize, fundraise and acquire weapons or dual-use technologies (items with both consumer and military applications, such as drones).

None of these conflict-generating dynamics shows any signs of receding.

As a result, erstwhile rebels or former members of state security forces have plenty of lucrative opportunities in an increasingly unstable world.

Social media and encrypted private messaging apps are also making it easier for governments, private military companies (PMCs) and subcontractors to recruit them.

A 2020 report from a defence news outlet estimated the global private military and security industry was then worth US$224 billion. The report projected the industry reaching US$457 billion by 2030. For comparison, China — with the world’s second-largest military — spent roughly US$296 billion on its armed forces last year.

The demand for PMCs has since skyrocketed with Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv initially sought assistance with evacuations, logistics and protection of humanitarian organizations. Ukraine’s foreign legion — with thousands of fighters from Britain, France, Poland, the U.S. and elsewhere — has also become an integral part of offensives and covert operations.

Global Affairs Canada says at least 11 Canadians have died fighting for Ukraine. This includes Austin Lathlin-Bercier, a 25-year-old man from Manitoba’s Opaskwayak Cree Nation, killed last November.

Russian forces likewise involve foreign nationals, from places as diverse as Afghanistan, Cuba, India, Nepal and Serbia. They are often used as cannon fodder in ground wave attacks meant to overwhelm Ukrainian defensive positions.

In April 2022, just two months into the conflict, European officials claimed Russia had already deployed up to 20,000 Syrian and Libyan mercenaries in the Donbas region. Syrian government soldiers in particular were offered up to 50 times their monthly salary to enlist.

Meanwhile, it’s estimated more than 20,000 U.S. citizens are serving for the Israeli army in its war on Gaza. Two Republican lawmakers this past March introduced ambitious legislation that would grant them equivalent job benefits to active-duty U.S. soldiers.

Elsewhere, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen has previously recruited communist guerillas from Colombia. In Africa, Sudan’s rogue paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, is employing mercenaries drawn from ethnic militias across the region. French, British, German and Israeli PMCs are active on the continent too, often contracted by governments or multinational firms.

During the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the footprint of PMCs reached 100,000 to 160,000 personnel — approaching the size of the official American military force they were supporting.

From a legal perspective, a PMC is a corporate entity; a mercenary group is not. And sovereign governments can fold foreign nationals into their armed forces however they want. On the ground though, the difference between any of these arrangements is quite blurry.

Indeed, outsourcing the use of violence to foreign nationals in chaotic locations presents an ethical challenge to core tenets of state security and established international law. Yet the main international treaty meant to govern the use of PMCs remains unsigned by all five permanent members of the UN Security Council, even though it entered into force in 2001.

Reducing demand for PMCs in weak states where governments and militaries lack the strength, resources and professionalism to ensure national security is also a complicated task. It requires continual foreign sponsorship of training, hardware and financial assistance — alongside vigilant oversight.

Achieving this on a global scale seems unlikely. Especially as wealthy countries with the necessary means and expertise to do so turn ever more inward.

Kyle Hiebert is Winnipeg-based political risk analyst and former deputy editor of the Africa Conflict Monitor.