The contemporary space race is primarily about securing strategic, military, technological, and economic advantages over rivals, more than scientific discovery or symbolic status. Although space has often been portrayed as a domain of international cooperation - embodied most visibly by the International Space Station - competition has always remained central to humanity’s expansion into orbit.

Militaries around the world have always mapped the world in terrain features, borders, and lines of advance. Yet in recent crises, the most consequential pressure has often been applied elsewhere - shipping slows without a port being seized; energy prices spike without a pipeline being destroyed; and supply chains fracture without a factory being struck.

For decades, U.S. policymakers have returned to a familiar operational formula in the Middle East: American airpower, intelligence, and advisory support paired with local ground forces willing to do the hardest fighting. Kurdish partners fit that formula in Iraq and Syria, where their battlefield effectiveness gave Washington a relatively economical way to generate pressure without introducing large conventional formations.

Since mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash in 2023, the Kremlin has assumed more direct control over his Wagner Group and its operations in Africa. As Russia becomes more assertive with its strategic approach to Africa, African nations hosting Russian private military companies (PMCs) may find themselves facing a dire security threat.

Since mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash in 2023, the Kremlin has assumed more direct control over his Wagner Group and its operations in Africa. As Russia becomes more assertive with its strategic approach to Africa, African nations hosting Russian private military companies (PMCs) may find themselves facing a dire security threat.