This is unique. I have not seen Eeben do a interview like this and typically I have only heard him do podcasts or write on his blog. He usually does not offer interviews to the media because of how poorly they have treated him and his companies in the past. With that said, this was a great little interview and they covered some interesting territory. Luckily RT posted a transcript.
Some things of note before I dig in. It was obvious to me that Sophie, or the host of the show, was getting her questions via a microphone in her ear. Which is standard, but it just didn’t seem like she was all that engaged into the whole process. More like she was just going through the list of questions and making follow ups based on what came in via the earpiece. I should also note that Sophie is the granddaughter of Edward Shevardnadze.
Now being that this is a Russian owned news group doing a interview like this, you would think that there would be some mention of PMC Wagner in the conversation? There was none. Matter of fact, I went on RT to look up PMC Wagner, and there is nothing on the group. When referencing the incident involving PMC Wagner back in February, RT made no mention of the company and only referred to Russian citizens that were in Syria. I get it, they don’t want to talk about their own PMSC’s. But they certainly wanted to hear about other companies, to include Eeben’s.
Which going back to the interview, this was filled with some good stuff. If anyone is familiar with what Eeben has written in his blog or at Facebook, you would be familiar with all the territory he covered in this interview. If you want to read what Eeben had to say about this interview, I would recommend going to his FB page.
My personal take on all of it is that Eeben just wrote and published a fantastic book called Composite Warfare, and these interviews and podcasts are a way to reach out to African governments or any other potential clients. I have a copy of CW and it is a handbook on waging war in Africa. But it is also a handbook that requires an advisor/mentor to best help apply the handbook to a country’s military reorganization and conflict resolution. The book is filled with references to either EO or STTEP and their successful operations throughout Africa, and those successes are absolutely leveraged in the message within this book.
The most recent example of what they were able to do was in Nigeria when STTEP worked with that country’s military to fight Boko Haram. The results were stunning for the short time that STTEP was there, and I certainly think it was a mistake for the Nigerians to not retain their services. But elections have consequences as they say, and with a new leader in Nigeria came new ideas on how to approach their problem.
Finally, I wanted to post from the transcript what I thought was fascinating stuff. What are Eeben’s thoughts on the future of PMSC’s and private warfare? Here is a clip.
SS:Why is there a search in private military companies now? I mean, isn’t cheaper for a government to just recruit more people into the regular army than pay mercenaries double or triple of what a soldier makes?
EB: Well, I think there’s been a search in the requirement for private military companies given the unstable international arena that we all live in. I think, as instability grows it becomes much easier to outsource certain services to private entities. I also look at the cost of maintaining a large standing army. And then, I look at Africa in particular, whereas the doctrines that are used by many African armies and the troops that are trained in those doctrines are really doctrines that are totally irrelevant to Africa. These are doctrines that were designed to fight the Germans during WWII, or, when it comes to Western type of doctrines, to fight the old Soviets in Europe. And those types of things are totally irrelevant as far as Africa is concerned. Then, of course, there is an ability of many African governments to buy their own equipment because they’re advised to do that. All of these things become money wasters. And they have a lot of equipment and manpower that are actually unable to function coherently and to defeat an armed threat against that government.
SS:So, do you see this trend of hiring private military companies continuing? Can warfare be eventually privatized and outsourced to PMCs?
EB: I don’t think that it will eventually be outsourced in total. I think national armies are still there to protect the integrity of the state and the territorial integrity of their countries. However, given the role that many proxy forces are currently playing in Africa, and the size of these proxy forces and the way in which they are equipped, I think, it’s a government’s prerogative to call on any help they can, if they feel they need that help to defeat these armed threats they are facing. But that’s it, I don’t think the national armies will ever cease to exist. And I think that the correct type of PMC staffed by the correct people, who understand the culture and the type of environment they are operating in can certainly add value to the operation efficiency of any African army.
As someone that not only works in this industry, but also writes about the trends, I am always curious about where things are going. I continue to see signs of private militaries being used more for the offense. Be it STTEP in Nigeria, PMC Wagner in Syria, or even the Prince Plan for Afghanistan if that goes through. I do not see governments getting rid of their national armies, but it is obvious to me that private warfare is slowly becoming a legitimate option or tool for waging war. –Matt