DIIS Policy Brief
Farewell to Public Arms
Strategic and legislative problems of outsourcing military power
Two new DIIS policy briefs take a close look at the implications of employing private military companies in counter-insurgency strategies, and at the international community's weak response to the increasing use of these private actors.
Military capacity is under pressure. It is increasingly restrained by financial restrictions, budget cuts and declining birth rates while at the same time the number of conflicts and demand for security are rising. Private military companies take over some of the burden, relieving soldiers from some of the tasks. For that reason the industry of private military and private military security is booming.
But lessons from the counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq show that there are a number of problems which must be dealt with when outsourcing. The overall military strategy must be ensured even if daily on-the-ground military tasks are in fact being done by others than the military itself. And who is in charge and has jurisdiction over private companies when these fall outside the military chain of command?
Late 2010 the UN launched a draft convention to regulate outsourcing at the international level. But the convention does not accomplish its goal, as it simply leaves the bulk of regulation up to the individual states. Thus, it may well turn into an excuse for doing nothing, while obscuring the real issues at hand: The changes in the security architecture and its implications which international and national laws are not equipped to address.
Military capacity is under pressure. It is increasingly restrained by financial restrictions, budget cuts and declining birth rates while at the same time the number of conflicts and demand for security are rising. Private military companies take over some of the burden, relieving soldiers from some of the tasks. For that reason the industry of private military and private military security is booming.
But lessons from the counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq show that there are a number of problems which must be dealt with when outsourcing. The overall military strategy must be ensured even if daily on-the-ground military tasks are in fact being done by others than the military itself. And who is in charge and has jurisdiction over private companies when these fall outside the military chain of command?
Late 2010 the UN launched a draft convention to regulate outsourcing at the international level. But the convention does not accomplish its goal, as it simply leaves the bulk of regulation up to the individual states. Thus, it may well turn into an excuse for doing nothing, while obscuring the real issues at hand: The changes in the security architecture and its implications which international and national laws are not equipped to address.
Private military companies in counter-insurgency strategy