# Private Military Contractors:  Understanding the Non-State Actors Changing the Institution of War

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-institute-of-world-politics-1100153/private-military-contractors-understanding-the-non-state-actors-changing-the-institution-of-war
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-institute-of-world-politics-1100153/private-military-contractors-understanding-the-non-state-actors-changing-the-institution-of-war.md
Podcast: [The Institute of World Politics](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-institute-of-world-politics-1100153)
Published: 2026-03-20T16:04:33+00:00
Episode link: https://soundcloud.com/theiwp/private-military-contractors
Audio file: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/2287520021-theiwp-private-military-contractors.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-institute-of-world-politics-1100153/episodes/private-military-contractors-understanding-the-non-state-actors-changing-the-institution-of-war
Duration seconds: 3670

## Resource

Dr. Caroline Batka analyzes PMCs in Private Military Contractors: Understanding the Non-State Actors Changing the Institution of War. This lecture draws on Dr. Caroline Batka’s compendium of research on Private Military Contractors (PMCs) and examines how they are reshaping the modern institution of war. The presentation explores key similarities and differences in how the U.S. military and the European Union employ and integrate PMCs, clarifies PMC terminology and classifications, and assesses their relationship to mercenaries, warlords, and other non-state actors. The lecture also examines the Wagner Group as a distinct and influential non-state organization. Dr. Caroline Batka is a senior military analyst at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. She is currently working on a study funded by the Slovak Research and Development Agency examining hybrid warfare in Europe. This includes studies on the societal factors facilitating receptivity to pro-Russian disinformation in Slovakia; the organizational structure of the Wagner Group; the EU’s use of private military and security contractors; and Slovak-Polish defense industrial base collaboration. Dr. Batka is also an adjunct professor at Bay Atlantic University in the Political Science and International Relations Department where she teaches Public Administration. In 2020-2021, Dr. Batka worked at King’s College London on a study of the U.S. military personnel’s interprofessional bonds with private military contractors. In that role, Dr. Batka conducted and analyzed qualitative interviews with contractors and coauthored a published article. From 2018-2020, she taught US Foreign Policy at Webster Vienna Private University. Beyond her academic experience, Dr. Batka has worked in a range of non-profit oversight and…

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