Private Military Contractors: How Non-State Actors Are Changing War

About the Lecture:

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.

About the Speaker:

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 government capacities. From October 2011 to July 2016, she worked at RAND Corporation in Washington, D.C. where her research focused on Army operations and planning, military programs and policy, health care, and veterans’ issues. Dr. Batka served as RAND’s liaison to the U.S. Army G-3/5/7 (Operations and Plans). In this capacity, Dr. Batka led coordination and communication between the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, G-3/5/7 and the RAND leadership team. Dr. Batka has honed expertise in U.S. military and veterans’ health and mental health issues. She has conducted dozens of studies for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on the effectiveness of treatment programs and policy for PTSD, depression, and traumatic brain injuries. Dr. Batka is also a skilled and experienced qualitative researcher. She has conducted, coded, and analyzed hundreds of interviews with policymakers and stakeholders on a range of specialized and sensitive subjects, including military sexual assault, mental health and health policies and programs, and identification of potential DoD programs and activities for consolidation or elimination. Dr. Batka also has extensive experience working with surveys, cenarios analysis, and case studies.

Prior to working at RAND, Dr. Batka has worked at the National Academy of Public Administration, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Disabled American Veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and on Capitol Hill. Dr. Batka holds a PhD from Comenius University, a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Communication from Virginia Tech

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