Government and Guns for Hire: Odd Couple or Lasting Love?

Abstract

The provision of security has, for many years, been recognized as one of the most important roles of government. Yet, changes in the international system and in the nature of conflicts have created favorable conditions for the rise of a market for private military and security services. Indeed, the number of private military firms and private security companies has grown at a startling rate in the last two decades. They make up the third largest force in Iraq today. The range of activities these companies offer has also expanded—from primarily logistical services to military training, advice, and even direct operational support. Not surprisingly, given its controversial and polarizing nature, media coverage of this industry has fluctuated between simple descriptions of its role in particular conflicts to sensational articles on the new “dogs of war” or on the “saviors” in twenty-first-century conflicts. Within academia, the few articles written have been largely descriptive, unconnected to a systematic research program and lacking a theoretical framework within which to study the companies, the industry, or the overall impact of this phenomenon. Against this background, Deborah Avant's The Market for Force stands as a long-awaited academic analysis of this phenomenon—a thoughtful and significant contribution to the literature on security studies and security privatization.