Private Military Companies and the Outsourcing of War: A Spark of Destabilisation to the Global Security

Öz Private Military Companies (PMCs) are a relatively new actor in worldwide warfare. They are part of a multi-billionaire industry profiting over US$ 100 billion in revenue per year. Present in 50 different countries and boosted by significant world’s events such as the advent of new wars, post-Cold War order, and 11th September attacks, the PMCs became an extension and an outsourced state-capacity of act coercively. These companies have grown in ability, capability, tactical and technical skills enabling them to fight wars in the name of states. Nevertheless, this growth also represents a great risk for security destabilisation, human security, and even small changes in the international order. Although PMCs cannot yet wage wars by themselves, the lack of regulation and accountability under international laws enable them to cause isolated but powerful damage, which can destabilise – even momentarily – the global security system, mainly when those companies are used by statemen to overcome political and public costs in democracies. Also, PMCs can be used by rogue or failed states. Blackwater case, in Iraq, taught the world how human security can be under threat when a profit-oriented company incorporates an influential military culture. Researchers and scholars are still assessing the lessons from Iraq and the operation of further coming companies in order to classify the position of PMCs in a future where national armies are reduced.

___

Academi.Com. (2019). Academi. [Online] Available at: https://www.Academi.Com/. Accessed: 19 February 2020].

Ayoob M, ‘Security in The Third World: The Worm About to Turn?’ (1983) 60(1) International Affairs 41-51.

Baldwin D, ‘Security Studies and the End of the Cold War’ (1995) 48(1) World Politics 117-141.

Booth K, ‘Security and Emancipation’ (1991) 17(4) Review of International Studies 313-326.

Booth K and Smith S, Critical Security Studies and World Politics (Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers 2005).

Buzan, B, People, States & Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era (2nd Ed. Colchester: Ecpr Press 2007).

Buzan B, Waever O and Wilde, J, Security: A New Framework for Analysis (Boulder, Colo: Lynne Rienner, 1998).

Carter, Jr, J. ‘The Tooth to Tail Ratio: Considerations for Future Army Force Structure’. [Online](Apps.Dtic.Mil,1997).

Available at: Https://Apps.Dtic.Mil/Dtic/Tr/Fulltext/U2/A326318.Pdf. Accessed: 16 February 2020.

Christie R, ‘Critical Voices and Human Security: To Endure, To Engage Or To Critique?’ (2010) 41(2) Security Dialogue 169-190.

Clausewitz C, On War (London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1918).

Coker C, ‘Outsourcing War’ (1999) 13(1) Cambridge Review of International Affairs 95-113.

Delmas-Marty, Mireille (translated by Naomi Norberg), Ordering Pluralism: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding The Transnational Legal World (Oxford, and Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing, 2009).

Dod. Defense Government. [Online] Available At: Https://Dod.Defense.Gov/Portals/1/Documents/Pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.Pdf, 2019. Accessed 10 January 2020.

Duffield M, ‘War as A Network Enterprise: The New Security Terrain And Its Implications’ (2002) 6(1-2) Cultural Values 153-165.

Fitzsimmons S, ‘Wheeled Warriors: Explaining Variations in The Use of Violence By Private Security Companies In Iraq’ (2013) 22(4) Security Studies 707-739.

Fulloon M, ‘Non-State Actor: Defining Private Military Companies’ (2015) 37(2) Strategic Review for Southern Africa 29-51.

Gafarov O, ‘Rise of China’s Private Armies’ Chatham House, 2019. Available At: Https://Www.Chathamhouse.Org/Publications/Twt/Rise-China-S-Private-Armies. Accessed: 17 March 2020.

General Assembly Resolution 68/262, Territorial Integrity Of Ukraine, A/Res/68/262, March 2014, Https://Undocs.Org/A/Res/68/262.

Glaser C, ‘A Flawed Framework: Why the Liberal International Order Concept Is Misguided’ (2019) 43(4) International Security 51-87.

Glasius M, ‘Human Security from Paradigm Shift To Operationalization: Job Description For A Human Security Worker’ (2008) 39(1) Security Dialogue 31-54.

Goga R, ‘Privatization of Security in The 20th Century. From Mercenaries to Private Military Corporations’ (2018) 63(1) Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Studia Europaea 251-264.

Gortzak Y, ‘How Great Powers Rule: Coercion and Positive Inducements In International Order Enforcement’ (2005) 14(4) Security Studies 663-697.

Globalpolicy.Org. (2019). Regulation and Oversight Of Pmscs. Available At: Https://Www.Globalpolicy.Org/Pmscs/50211-Regulation-And-Oversight-Of-Pmscs.Html. Accessed 15 Feb. 2020.

Hammersley M, Foster P, Gomm R and Eckstein H, Case Study Method (London: Sage 2000). Heng Y, ‘The ‘Transformation of War’ Debate: Through the Looking Glass Of Ulrich Beck’s World Risk Society’ (2006) 20(1) International Relations 69-91.

Icoca.Ch. Membership | Icoca - International Code of Conduct Association, 2019. Available At: Https://Www.Icoca.Ch/En/Membership. Accessed 16 Feb. 2020.

International Committee of The Red Cross. (The Montreux Document On Private Military And Security Companies, 2019. [Online] Available At: Https://Www.Icrc.Org/En/Publication/0996-Montreux-Document-Private-Military-And-Security-Companies [Accessed 15 Jan. 2020].

Joint Audit of Blackwater Contract And Task Orders For Worldwide Personal Protective Services In Iraq. (2009). [Online] Office Of The Special Inspector General For Iraq Reconstruction. Available At: Https://Apps.Dtic.Mil/Dtic/Tr/Fulltext/U2/A508739.Pdf [Accessed 19 Jan. 2020].

Kaldor M, ‘In Defence of New Wars. (Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 2(1), 2013). Kalyvas S, “New” And “Old” Civil Wars: A Valid Distinction?’ (2001) 54(1) World Politics 99-118. Malešević S, ‘The Sociology of New Wars? Assessing the Causes and Objectives of Contemporary Violent Conflicts’ (2008) 2(2) International Political Sociology 97-112.

Mcgrath J, ‘The Other End of The Spear: The Tooth-To-Tail Ratio (T3r) In Modern Military Operations’. [Online] (Apps.Dtic.Mil.,2007) Available at: Https://Apps.Dtic.Mil/Dtic/Tr/Fulltext/U2/A472467.Pdf [Accessed 16 Jan. 2020].

Waronwant.Org. Mercenaries Unleashed - The Brave New World of Private Military and Security Companies, 2016. [Online] Available At: Https://Waronwant.Org/Sites/Default/Files/Mercenaries%20unleashed%2c%202016.Pdf [Accessed 20 Jan. 2020].

Merom G, ‘The Age of Asocial War: Democratic Intervention and Counterinsurgency In The Twenty-First Century’ (2012) 66(3) Australian Journal of International Affairs 365-380.

Montreux Document on Pertinent International Legal Obligations and Good Practices for States Related to Operations of Private Military and Security Companies During Armed Conflict: Montreux 17 September 2008. (Journal of Conflict and Security Law, 13(3), 2008, pp. 451-475.

Munro L, ‘Strategies to Shape the International Order: Exit, Voice and Innovation Versus Expulsion, Maintenance and Absorption’ (2017) 39(2) Canadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue Canadienne D'études du Développement 310-328.

Owen J, ‘How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace’ (1994) 19(2) International Security 87 ff

Pervez F, ‘Blackwater: Can't Stop, Won't Stop’ Foreign Policy In Focus, 2010. [Online] Available at: Https://Gold.Idm.Oclc.Org/Login?Url=Https://Search.Proquest.Com/Docview/746785187?Accountid=11149. Accessed 18 January 2020].

Posner E, The Twilight of Human Rights Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).

Prince E, Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater And The Unsung Heroes Of The War On Terror (1st Ed. New York: Penguin, 2014).

Reynolds N, ‘Are Russia’s Mercenaries A Threat to U.S. Interests? (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2019). [Online] Available At: Https://Carnegieendowment.Org/2019/07/17/Are-Russia-S-Mercenaries-Threat-To-U.S.-Interests-Pub-79493. [Accessed 16 January 2020].

Reynolds, N, ‘Putin’s Not-So-Secret Mercenaries: Patronage, Geopolitics, And the Wagner Group’ [Online] Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, July 2019. Available At: Https://Carnegieendowment.Org/2019/07/08/Putin-S-Not-So-Secret-Mercenaries-Patronage-Geopolitics-And-Wagner-Group-Pub-79442 [Accessed 16 Aug. 2019].

Right Web - Institute for Policy Studies. Academi Llc (Formerly Xe And Blackwater Worldwide) - Right Web - Institute for Policy Studies, 2019. [Online] Available At: Http://Rightweb.Irc-Online.Org/Profile/Blackwater_Worldwide/#_Edn16 [Accessed 19 Jan. 2020].

Scahill, J. Blackwater Founder Remains Free and Rich While His Former Employees Go Down On Murder Charges. [Online] The Intercept, 2014. Available At: Https://Theintercept.Com/2014/10/22/Blackwater-Guilty-Verdicts/ [Accessed 19 Jan. 2020].

Singer P, Corporate Warriors - The Rise of The Privatized Military Industry (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press 2008).

Strachan H, Herberg-Rothe, A and Münkler H, Clausewitz In The Twenty-First Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2007).

Tahir T, ‘How World’s Next Global Power Could Be A Private Army Of Mercenaries’ [Online] (The Sun, 2019). Available At: Https://Www.Thesun.Co.Uk/News/8479911/How-Worlds-Next-Global-Power-Could-Be-A-Private-Army-Amid-Fears-Russia-Is-About-To-Unleash-Mercenary-Battalions-In-Venezuela/ [Accessed 17 Jan. 2020].

Tickner J, ‘Feminist Responses to International Security Studies’ (2004) 16(1) Peace Review 43-48.

Traynor, I. Special Investigation: The Privatisation of War. [Online] The Guardian, 2019. Available At: Https://Www.Theguardian.Com/World/2003/Dec/10/Politics.Iraq [Accessed 3 Jan. 2020].

Warren, D. and Bianco, M.A, ‘Opportunities to Improve Processes for Reporting, Investigating, And Remediating Serious Incidents Involving Private Security Contractors In Iraq’. (Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, SIGIR 09-019, April 30, 2009). SIGIR 09-019, Arlington,VA.

Welch M, ‘Fragmented Power and State-Corporate Killings: A Critique of Blackwater In Iraq’ (2008) 51(3-4) Crime, Law and Social Change 351-364.

Yeoman B ‘Soldiers of Good Fortune’ [Online] Mother Jones 2019. Available at: Https://Www.Motherjones.Com/Politics/2003/05/Soldiers-Good-Fortune/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2020].

Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul-Cover
  • ISSN: 0578-9745
  • Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 2 Sayı
  • Başlangıç: 1951
  • Yayıncı: İstanbul Üniversitesi