The Role of the Wagner Military and Security Company in the Syrian Crisis

Nourmohammadi, Morteza; Sadeghi Khoorjestan, Zahra

The Role of the Wagner Military and Security Company in the Syrian Crisis

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Associate Professor of International Relations, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

² Department of International Relations. Faculty of Law and Political Sciences. Allameh Tabataba;i University. Tehran. Iran

Abstract

Simultaneously with the Islamic awakening in some countries of West Asia and North Africa, in 2011, Syria faced an internal crisis that spread rapidly and challenged the regional and international system. Countries such as the United States, Russia, Iran, Turkey, etc. each played a role in this crisis in line with their interests and goals. Along with the presence of government actors, what was at the forefront of attention and reports by researchers and the media was the presence of Russian military and security companies in Syria. Despite their importance in the crisis, the role of these actors seems ambiguous. The present study aims to examine the role of this military and security company in the Syrian crisis by studying the presence of the Wagner Company in the Syrian crisis. In this regard, this article seeks to answer the question: what role did the Wagner Military and Security Company play in the Syrian crisis? This article examines the research hypothesis using a descriptive-analytical method and library and internet documents. The results show that the Wagner military and security company, by providing offensive services during the expansion phase of the Syrian crisis, in addition to facilitating Russia's military presence in Syria, increased the violence of the crisis, increased heterogeneity, increased militarization in the crisis, and also increased the number of active actors in the crisis, which all of these factors indicate the intensification and complexity of the Syrian crisis.

Keywords