Private Military Companies-A Positive Role to Play in Today’s International System

Abstract

The end of the Cold War and the following transition into the post-Cold War era has proved to be a truly catalytic period. It has fostered change, revision, and reemphasis, birth and death. But the darkest force in the affairs of men and states remains essentially unchanged, as forceful, dark, and bloody as at any time in modern history. I refer to war, to armed conflict within states and between states – civil war and war fought across national boundaries. War in all its manifestations, including preand post-conflict challenges, is still very much a significant and enduring feature of the international system. And armed conflict is not the only security issue chafing at the flesh of international society. We face the destructive problems posed by a broad and varied range of humanitarian, environmental, and human security issues. The focus of this paper is on a very particular – and relatively new – player in the field of international relations, and more particularly, but not exclusively, in the field of armed conflict. This is the private military company (PMC). The question I address is, can the PMC play a positive role in today’s international system? Can PMCs contribute and make a difference in situations where tension exists inside a state, or between states, in conditions where factors progressively ripen towards conflict; in situations where the fragility of peace has shattered into “hot” armed conflict; in post-conflict phases, including aspects of Peace Support Operations; and in other more subtle human security scenarios that are no less important to the quality of international and domestic life? The bulk of this paper will concentrate on conflict-related issues and the relevancy of PMCs to these, but I will conclude by speculating that PMCs have the potential to diversify into, and be successful players in, a much broader spectrum of “soft” security issues. Why should we be concerned with PMCs? I will contend that, even though external, non-indigenous players in armed conflict are by no means new, the postCold War landscape is different. It contains factors that have evolved to create spaces for PMCs to operate in, and a demand, I will argue, for a presence that PMCs can (sometimes uniquely) satisfy. I will argue that without the involvement of PMCs we may be faced with less control over armed conflict, an increasing tendency for armed conflicts to drag on unresolved, creating more misery and mayhem, and inefficient and inappropriate post-conflict activity that may lead at