Check out this new report from USSOCOM’s Joint Special Operations University: From Guns for Hire to Military Doctrine: Russia’s Institutionalization of Influence in Africa. Below are highlights from the introduction, and we highly encourage you to dive into the full report at the link above. For SOF readers tracking how influence campaigns are evolving across Africa, Inter Populum’s Proxy Battlespaces: A New Perspective on Ukraine’s Use of Special Operations Forces in Syria, Sudan, and Mali is a useful companion to read alongside this JSOU report. It explores Ukraine’s use of partners and indirect methods in environments where Russia has pursued regime access and resource security through Wagner/Africa Corps. Together, they sharpen the comparative picture: institutionalized coercive influence versus agile, networked competition.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 18, 2026 20:35 UTC