國家與軍事私營化：以瓦格納集團為例

State and Military Privatization: The Case of the Wagner Group

瓦格納集團（Wagner Group）是俄羅斯以私營軍事公司滿足國家利益的特殊手段。但瓦格納在俄烏衝突中的鋒芒畢露，從根本上改變過往對國家使用私營軍事公司是基於可否認性（deniability）的論述。瓦格納的案例還帶來4項影響：顛覆私人軍事承包商提供傭兵服務的污名；突破從業人士的專業背景限制；改變私營軍事公司與國家軍事機器間輔助關係；發揮一定程度的和平功能。自瓦格納核心人物烏特金（Dmitry Utkin）與普里戈津（Yevgeny Prigozhin）於2023年意外身亡後，這種公私協力模式，將會由俄羅斯境內的機會主義者起而效仿並延續下去。這可能導致私人軍事公司群雄競逐，將可能使其他國家難以釐清這些公司與俄羅斯外交政策的相關性，導致在應對此種灰色地帶行動上的困難。

The Wagner Group is a private military company that acts as a special instrument to which Russia uses to serve its national interests. Wagner’s prominent role in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict fundamentally changes the discourse of using private military companies mainly for deniability. The case of the Wagner Group presents four changes: it defies the stigma to mercenary services provided by private military contractors; it lifts the professional background constraint; it alters the supportive relationship between private military companies and the military, delivering peacekeeping functions to a certain extent. After the unexpected deaths of Dmitry Utkin and Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2023, such cooperation model between private military companies and the military is likely to be replicated by opportunists in Russia. This may potentially give rise to competition among private military companies in the post-Wagner era, to which other countries may find difficult to comprehend their ties to the Russian foreign policy. Such competition may also cause complication to gray zone operations.