Private Armed Forces and Global Security Recent Titles in Contemporary Military, Strategic, and Security Issues Returning Wars’ Wounded, Injured, and Ill: A Reference Handbook Nathan D. Ainspan and Walter E. Penk, editors Manning the Future Legions of the United States: Finding and Developing Tomorrow’s Centurions Donald Vandergriff The Process and Politics of Defense Acquisition: A Reference Handbook David S. Sorenson International Crime and Punishment: A Guide to the Issues James Larry Taulbee Serving America’s Veterans: A Reference Handbook Lawrence J. Korb, Sean E. Duggan, Peter M. Juul, and Max A. Bergmann Military Doctrine: A Reference Handbook Bert Chapman Energy Security Challenges for the 21st Century: A Reference Handbook Gal Luft and Anne Korin, editors An Introduction to Military Ethics: A Reference Handbook Bill Rhodes War and Children: A Reference Handbook Kendra E. Dupuy and Krijn Peters Military Justice: A Guide to the Issues Lawrence J. Morris Military Space Power: A Guide to the Issues Wilson W.S. Wong and James Fergusson American Missile Defense: A Guide to the Issues Victoria Samson Private Armed Forces and Global Security A Guide to the Issues Carlos Ortiz Contemporary Military, Strategic, and Security Issues Copyright 2010 by Carlos Ortiz All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ortiz, Carlos. Private armed forces and global security : a guide to the issues / Carlos Ortiz. p. cm. — (Contemporary military, strategic, and security issues) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-313-35592-9 (print : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-35593-6 (ebook) 1. Private military companies—History—21st century. 2. Private military companies—History—20th century. 3. Security, International—History— 21st century. 4. Security, International—History—20th century. I. Title. U240.O785 2010 355.3'5—dc22 2009046663 ISBN: 978-0-313-35592-9 EISBN: 978-0-313-35593-6 14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. Praeger An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America For my parents This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface ix Abbreviations xi Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Private Forces in Historical Perspective 12 Chapter 3 Private Military Companies and Adverse Private Forces 42 Chapter 4 Confl ict Environments and Private Forces 77 Chapter 5 The Privatization of Security: Approaches and Issues 114 Chapter 6 Conclusions 150 Appendix I World Map 163 Appendix II Actors 167 Appendix III Documents 197 Selected Bibliography 215 Index 227 This page intentionally left blank Preface Private military companies (PMCs) and global trends toward the privatiza- tion of security fi rst attracted my attention in the early 1990s. Back then, I used to mention PMCs and people thought I was maybe an arms dealer dis- guised as an academic. Times have changed. Now almost everyone has a view about private personnel working in confl ict zones. By 1996 I was formally researching the subject, which eventually led to a PhD and various related presentations and publications. I cite some of my earlier work here and take forward previous arguments. Throughout this journey, the need for easily accessible material on the sub- ject has been made patent to me time and again. Moreover, during numerous conversations held with people of different backgrounds and ages, people’s desire to learn about all the different types of private armed forces typical of contemporary confl ict has been made obvious as well. There is also a renewed impetus to the historical analysis of the private exercise of force. Discussions have additionally been directed toward the outlining of paths to the study of PMCs. This rich dialogue engendered my desire to write this book and informed the structure of its contents. In the course of my research, I have become indebted to countless people. Some of them are cited in the book. In a fi eld of scholarly inquiry that has ex- ploded since the onset of the Iraq confl ict, however, the views of many other relevant sources have fallen outside the scope of the analysis. Nevertheless, I believe the book plants the seeds for any interested reader to pursue alterna- tive avenues of study and discover the many fascinating titles documenting the study of PMCs and adverse private forces. I sincerely hope this will make up for my failure to acknowledge specifi c works and exchanges I have sus- tained over the years with many authors.