Karen Philippa Larsen

Primary research areas

Karen Philippa Larsen’s primary research areas are Russia’s use of private military companies, primarely the Wagner Group. The project studies how Russia understand the private military companies as security actors both in a national and international context.

Current research

PhD project: Investigating the war in the Russian hybrid warfare: A study of Russia’s discourse about, as well as use of, Private Military Companies.

Private Military Companies are illegal and unconstitutional in Russia and despite attempts in the Duma to legislate on the area, this has not changed. The connection between various PMCs active around the world, for example PMC Wagner, and the Russia state is well established.

Official information about PMCs in Russia is almost impossible to come by, and therefore Karen, in this current PhD project, analyses the development of the discourse about Russian Private Military Companies in Russian media, as well as the political and academic discussions about PMCs and their deployments around the world, as semi-state security actors. The aim is to gain an understanding of how the Russian political elite sees and utilizes PMCs.