From Mercenaries
to Market
The Rise and Regulation of Private
Military Companies
Oxford University Press, 2007
Edited by Simon Chesterman & Chia Lehnardt
Frequently
characterized as either mercenaries in modern guise or the market’s response
to a security vacuum, private military companies are commercial firms offering
military services ranging from combat and military training and advice to
logistical support. They play an increasingly important role in armed
conflicts, UN peace operations, and providing security in unstable states.
Executive Outcomes
turned around an orphaned conflict in Sierra Leone in the mid-1990s; Military
Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI) was instrumental in shifting the
balance of power in the Balkans, enabling the Croatian military to defeat Serb
forces and clear the way for the Dayton negotiations; in Iraq, estimates of the
number of private contractors on the ground are in the tens of thousands. As
they assume more responsibilities in conflict and post-conflict settings, their
growing significance raises fundamental questions about their nature, their
role in different regions and contexts, and their regulation.
This volume examines
these issues with a focus on governance, in particular the interaction between
regulation and market forces. It analyses the current legal framework and the
needs and possibilities for regulation in the years ahead. The book as a whole
is organized around four sets of questions, which are reflected in the four
parts of the book. First, why and how is regulation of PMCs now a challenging
issue? Secondly, how have problems leading to a call for regulation manifested
in different regions and contexts? Third, what regulatory norms and
institutions currently exist and how effective are they? And, fourth, what role
has the market to play in regulation?
Table of
Contents:
Foreword — James
O.C. Jonah
Introduction — Simon Chesterman & Chia Lehnardt (available online)
Part I: Concerns
1. Morality and regulation — Sarah Percy
2. What should and what should not be regulated? — Kevin A. O’Brien
3. Regulating the role of private military companies in
shaping security and politics — Anna
Leander
Part II: Challenges
4. Weak governments in search of
strength: Africa’s experience of mercenaries and private military
companies — Angela McIntyre &
Taya Weiss
5. A government in search of cover: private military
companies in Iraq — David Isenberg
6. Transitional states in search of support: PMCs and
security sector reform — Elke
Krahmann
Part III: Norms
7. Private military companies under international
humanitarian law — Louise
Doswald-Beck
8. Private military companies and state responsibility
— Chia Lehnardt
9. Domestic regulation: licensing regimes for the export of
military goods and services — Marina
Caparini
Part IV: Markets
10. The emerging market for private military services and
the problems of regulation — Deborah
Avant
11. Make or buy? Principal-agent theory and the regulation
of private military companies — James
Cockayne
12. Contract as a tool for regulating private military
companies — Laura A. Dickinson
13. The future of the market — Andrew Bearpark & Sabrina Schulz
14. Conclusion: From mercenaries to market — Simon Chesterman & Chia Lehnardt
Select Bibliography
Index
Reviewed in
American Journal of International Law
British Journal of Criminology
Die Friedens-Warte (Journal of International
Peace and Organization)
European Journal of International Law
International Journal of Legal
Information
Journal of Modern African Studies
Millennium: Journal of International Studies
New York University Journal of
International Law and Politics
Verfassung und Recht in Ubersee
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