The Kremlin's Decision to Give Up the Wagner Group

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The group is much more than just one individual, and it has its own dynamic that will likely seek to continue in the months and years ahead. Another key factor in all this is the Kremlin. Over the past decade, pretty much since Russia's annexation of Crimea, Russia has wanted to redouble its foreign policy efforts on the continent. It's not clear why the Kremlin would want to give up this quite useful parallel instrument of foreign policy over the past six years.

Its leader is in exile and its future is uncertain. But the Wagner Group will be loth to abandon the influence and the cashflow that its murky African operations bring. The striking down of affirmative-action university-admissions policies in America may counterintuitively spur more-progressive and more-efficient alternatives (9:56). And the reinvention (again) of a beloved Chinese sweet treat (17:08).

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