This policy brief draws lessons learned in recent years to highlight the way forward for greater engagement by national and international stakeholders in the regulation, oversight, and accountability of private military and security companies (PMSCs).

It emphasizes that stakeholders do not need to reinvent the wheel, instead they need to refocus on and apply the initiatives and tools developed over the past two decades. 

It also sets out how the risks posed by the Wagner Group and similar companies arise from systematic challenges of security sector governance in fragile and conflict-affected countries and beyond. By providing concrete examples from recent years, this analysis underscores the importance of reinforcing PMSC governance as part of broader security sector governance and reform efforts.  

 The Wagner Group and similar companies are not just for-profit actors – they fundamentally challenge good security sector governance (and related security sector reform programming) as understood by all multilateral and regional organisations for two decades.