Abstract
There are genuine arguments in favor of why and under what conditions the use of private military companies has become necessary (Kruck, 2014), but there is also a feeling of skepticism about the increasing commodification of war given the nature of force and violence in war, and the context of war itself. This paper argues that there are reasons to be worried. It argues that the use of PMC’s for the purpose of war raises significant political, legal and moral issues that we should really be worried about. It does not argue that these issues are novel, given that most of the issues confront the use of national armies also, but posits that the commodification of war amplifies these issues. It adopts the definition of PMCs, by Chesterman and Lehnardt (2007:3) as those firms that ‘provide services outside their home states with the potential use of lethal force, as well as training and advice to militaries that substantially affects their war-fighting capacities.’ DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p1467
Highlights
The commodification of war revolves around the idea of privatization that has increasingly spread around the world emphasizing efficiency and effectiveness in the performance of public services in all sectors (Branovic, 2011:3)
The emergence of Private Military Companies heightened at the beginning of the 1990’s driven, as Singer (2005:119) observes, by three dynamics namely – the end of the Cold War, changes in the nature of war that blur the dividing lines between combatants and civilians, and a general trend towards privatization and outsourcing of government functions all over the world
This is not a new phenomenon, as throughout history, mercenary armies have been deployed by the leaders of the most powerful empires who relied regularly on hired soldiers with specialized warfare skills (Cooper, 2004: 574), the prevailing assumption is that Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC’s) are the mercenaries of the 21st Century providing expedient solutions to the complex combination of economic and political realities in contemporary armed conflicts (Musah & Fayemi, 2000:14)
Summary
The commodification of war revolves around the idea of privatization that has increasingly spread around the world emphasizing efficiency and effectiveness in the performance of public services in all sectors (Branovic, 2011:3). The emergence of Private Military Companies heightened at the beginning of the 1990’s driven, as Singer (2005:119) observes, by three dynamics namely – the end of the Cold War, changes in the nature of war that blur the dividing lines between combatants and civilians, and a general trend towards privatization and outsourcing of government functions all over the world. This is not a new phenomenon, as throughout history, mercenary armies have been deployed by the leaders of the most powerful empires who relied regularly on hired soldiers with specialized warfare skills (Cooper, 2004: 574), the prevailing assumption is that Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC’s) are the mercenaries of the 21st Century providing expedient solutions to the complex combination of economic and political realities in contemporary armed conflicts (Musah & Fayemi, 2000:14)
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