A History of Outsourced Violence: The Rise of the Rapid Support Forces, Libyan National Army, and Wagner Group
In the war against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have relied on external backing and regional partnerships that extend well beyond Sudan’s borders. While these relationships have developed within different local and historical contexts, the ways in which armed actors mobilise support, resources, and legitimacy reveal important behavioural patterns that lend themselves to a comparative look.
A History of Outsourced Violence: The Rise of the Rapid Support Forces, Libyan National Army, and Wagner Group—a new Situation Update from the Small Arms Survey’s Human Security Baseline Assessment for Sudan and South Sudan (HSBA) project—analyses the history of outsourced violence in Sudan, and how the resurgence of mercenary economies and transactional alliances in Sudan, Chad, Libya, and the Central African Republic challenges peacebuilding in the region.
Read chapters online
The evolution of outsourced warfare
Proxy warfare and the post-Arab Spring
This Situation Update was funded by a grant from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
