Corporate
Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry (Cornell Studies
in Security Affairs)
by P.W.
Singer
Book Description: In the groundbreaking new book, "Corporate
Warriors," Brookings Institution security analyst P. W. Singer explores
one of the most interesting, but little understood developments in modern
warfare. Over the last decade, a global trade in hired military services
has emerged. Known as "privatized military firms" (PMFs), these new businesses
range from small consulting firms, who sell the advice of retired generals,
to transnational corporations that lease out wings of fighter jets or battalions
of commandos.
Such firms number in the hundreds, have an estimated annual revenue
of over $100 billion, and presently operate in over fifty countries, including
in Afghanistan and Iraq. From recent events in Latin America (where a CMS
intelligence-gathering plane was recently lost to Colombian rebels) to
the Middle East (the Vinnell firm, which trains the Saudi military, was
just struck in the May 2003 Riyadh terrorist bombings), these firms appear
in all the world's hotspots and headlines again and again. Yet, until now,
no book has opened up this powerful new industry to the public eye.
Even the world’s most powerful military has become one
of the prime clients of the industry. From 1994-2002, the U.S. Defense
Department entered into over 3,000 contracts with U.S.-based firms, estimated
at a contract value of more than $300 billion. PMFs, such as Vice President
Cheney's old Halliburton and its Brown & Root division now provide
the logistics of every major U.S. military deployment. Other firms have
even taken over the ROTC programs at over two hundred American universities.
That is, private employees now train the U.S. military leaders of tomorrow.
With the recent purchase of MPRI (a PMF based in Virginia) by the Fortune-500
corporation L-3, many Americans unknowingly own slices of the industry
in their 401-K stock portfolios.
Perhaps no example better illustrates the industry's growing activity
than the recent war against Iraq. Private military employees handled everything
from feeding and housing U.S. troops to maintaining sophisticated weapons
systems like the B-2 stealth bomber, the F-117 stealth fighter, Global
Hawk UAV, U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, and numerous Navy ships.
Indeed, the ratio of private contractors to U.S. military personnel
in the Gulf was roughly 1 to 10 (10 times the ratio during the 1991 war).
The Economist magazine even termed the conflict "the first privatised war."
Private firms will likely play similar roles in the ensuing occupation
period. One recent example is the controversial Dyncorp firm, whose employees
were implicated in the sex and arms trade in the Balkans, being hired to
train the post-Saddam police force.
"Corporate Warriors" provides the first comprehensive analysis of the
private military industry. The book traces the firms’ historic
roots in the mercenary outfits of the past and the more recent underlying
causes that led to their emergence at the end of the Cold War. He then
examines how the industry is structured and these novel businesses operate.
In a series of detailed company portraits, Singer then describes the three
sectors within the industry. Military provider firms, like Executive Outcomes
(a South African company, made up of ex-Apartheid fighters), offer direct,
tactical military assistance, including serving in front-line combat. Military
consulting firms, like MPRI, draw primarily on retired senior officers
to provide strategic and training expertise for clients who are looking
for a step up in their military capabilities. Finally, military support
firms, like Halliburton-Brown & Root, carry out multi-billion contracts
that provide logistics, intelligence, and maintenance services to armed
forces, allowing them to concentrate their own energies on combat.
Singer then explores the many implications of this industry, ranging
from their impact on arms races to their possible roles in international
peacekeeping. He analyzes how the hopes for economy and efficiency can
duel with the risks that come from outsourcing the most essential of government
functions, that of national security. The privatization of military services
allows startling new capabilities and efficiencies in the way that war
is carried out. However, the mix of the profit motive with the fog of war
raises a series of troubling questions –for international
relations, for ethics, for management, for civil-military relations, for
international law, for human rights, and, ultimately, for democracy. In
other words, when it comes to military responsibilities, private companies’
good may not always be to the public good.
"Corporate Warriors" is a hard-hitting analysis that provides a fascinating
first look inside this exciting, but potentially dangerous new industry.
Easily accessible and highly informative, it provides a critical but balanced
look at the businesses behind the headlines. With the continued expansion
and growth of this industry in the coming years, "Corporate Warriors" will
be the essential sourcebook for understanding how the private military
industry works and how governments must respond. In the words of one leading
expert, it is a "must read" for anyone who cares about politics and warfare.
Paperback from Cornell University Press
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