PMCs emerge in a history course as an inevitable result of the changing in world structure and technology development. This critical review examines Anna Leander’s article on the paradox of implementing private military companies (PMCs) in Africa. The central issue is how security can be influenced by the using of PMCs. Building on Leander’s argument, this review argues that PMC is a double-edged sword that can be used to provide security as well as to stir insecurity. The blurred public and private lines and ambiguous regulations of PMCs cannot be neglect thus the use of PMC forces need stronger regulation and a better system of cooperation with other national or international actors. The review will first analyze the reasons for using PMCs as a way to support security in Africa mainly based on Leander’s views and partly on Singer’s points. Then the review will analyze factors contributing to the negative side of PMCs, especially in Darfur’s case and in Iraq’s case.
Leander recognizes the paradoxical situation faces by employing private military companies’ forces to solve the security problems in Africa. As a matter of fact, the line between public and private security orders in weak African states has already been blurred (Leander, 2005, p.606). Private forces are inevitable actors in those African states, thus on the one hand, it is argued that encouraging PMCs in Africa is able to restore the order. In the special case of weak African states, the poor conditions and frequent conflicts call for such a “force multiplier” as the PMCs.
Leader concludes four reasons that PMCs should be considered to organize the chaos in Africa. First, PMCs are external forces to break the cycles of violence in Africa (Leander, 2005, p.607). T...
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...ch PMCs played important role in many major combat, while PMCs fill the gap between U.S army and locals and maintain the reconstruction projects after war, democracy issues also need to be considered. The hiring of PMCs is mostly directly through government and military forces, which means citizens can be easily excluded from the decision process when their money are spent on buying military services, possibly, to invade another country.
Therefore, to conclude, the emergence of PMCs as crucial roles in Africa is an inevitable course. The wars do not find PMCs, but PMCs find wars and sell themselves. They will be frequent actors in the combat which can maintain and improve the local security. While on the contrary, to build a mature and secure system for PMCs, a lot more unstable factors need to be taken into consideration by international and national actors.
The United States Army, in its current state, is a profession of arms. In order to be considered a profession, the organization must have an ethical code rooted in values, strong trust with its clients, and be comprised of experts within the trade. These experts are constantly developing the trade for the present and the future and hold the same shared view of their trade culture.
In August of 1992, President George Bush Sr. sent US soldiers into Somalia to provide humanitarian relief to those Somalis suffering from starvation. The major problems in Somalia started when President Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown by a coalition of opposing clans. Although there were several opposing groups, the prominent one was led by Mohammed Farah Aidid. Following the overthrow of Barre, a massive power struggle ensued. These small scale civil wars led to the destruction of the agriculture in Somalia, which in turn led to the deprivation of food in large parts of the country. When the international community heard of this, large quantities of food were sent to ease Somali suffering. However, clan leaders like Aidid routinely hijacked food and exchanged it for weapons leaving thousands to starve to death. An estimated 300,000 Somalis died between 1991 and 1992 (Clancy 234-236). US soldiers were later sent into Somalia to capture Aidid, but when the operation got bloody, displeasing the American public, Clinton withdrew troops (Battersby 151). In The Morality of War, Brian Orend outlines ethical guidelines that should be followed in all three stages of war: jus ad bellum, jus in bello, and jus post bellum. Orend states that a nation can be moral going into war, but immoral coming out of one. Did the US act justly in all facets of the Somali conflict? The United States espoused all the guiding principles of jus ad bellum but right intent, upheld the principals of jus in bello, and clearly failed to uphold several aspects of jus post bellum during the armed humanitarian intervention in Somalia.
America holds the dream of liberty and freedom and protects the attainment and success of democracy across the world. As President Eisenhower emphasized in his “Farewell Address,” our goal as a nation has always been to “foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity, and integrity among people and among nations” (par. 7). However, since the early fifties, American society has become a nation of self-servers with ulterior motives that surface well after our nation has initiated conflicts with others. The Korean, Vietnam and the Iraq War all exemplify the new era of secretive purpose behind military action taken. These three wars span the majority of the past sixty years. This new era began when our country started our transformation into, what President Eisenhower coined, the “military-industrial complex” (par.16). This complex harbors an unbalanced society that allows for our government’s actions to become easily corrupted by the need to feed the industry that feeds our military in turn. During President Eisenhower’s farewell, he warned our nation of the devastating effects of this type of national compound. In, Why We Fight, by Eugene Jarecki, an award-winning documentary director and producer, the film introduces the audience to the lack of understanding our society has on the actual intent behind our nation’s conflicts. Jarecki conveys throughout his piece that the overall purpose for misleading the American public is to fuel the military-industrial economy by maintaining America’s political supremacy around the world. The director introduces the audience to this new understanding by employing anecdotes from certain citizens as well as expressive imagery that comprised of heart wrenching video clips as w...
An Evaluation of International Imperialism, the European Arms Race, and Militarism in the Origins of First World War
The military since the Colonial Era has been an impetus for social reform in the United States. The Revolutionary War afforded Black Americans an opportunity to escape from the toils of slavery and fight for freedom. Some Black Americans even earned their freedom by fighting for the Colonists, but still the freedom they fought for wasn’t their own. However, the military was responsible for the freedom of many slaves and some of these freed slaves became legendary soldiers like Salem Poor. His performance in battle gave credibility for future arguments about blacks being allowed to serve.
Theory. The term ‘civil-military relations’ is often used to describe the relationship between civil society and its associated military force, moreover the fundamental basis upon which the civilian authority exercises control over its military organization. It is generally accepted that ‘civilian control of the military is preferable to military control of the state’ and although there are states that do not conform to this norm, they tend to be less developed countries that have succumb to military interven...
For my essay I will be evaluating the sub-saharan African country of Liberia. Over the course of this essay i shall try and shed some light on the main threats to peace and stability in the country. Threats that, if not treated responsibly and correctly, could throw Liberia, the Liberian people and potentially a large proportion of West Africa back into the violence and political instability that has plagued the region over the last few decades.
...ve experienced the sometimes-difficult transition to a democracy; others are currently in that transition. For some countries this transition will take a matter of months, for others is can take years. Sustainable peace requires a reform of all agencies in any way connected to the government. One of the major areas is the Security Sector. The best way to affect sustainable peace through security sector reform is to allow the people to reform their own security sector. The key elements necessary for a successful reform of the security sector are a centralized democratic government willing to reform, the people’s support for a reform, strong leaders to push this reform through, the willingness to compromise, a striving for peaceful resolutions, and above all a strong want of Democracy. These elements result in the bringing the joys of freedom to the people. (1,500)
Threats to the implementation of private military companies are public opinion and lack of budget for military spending. The challenge of public opinion can be founded in the way in which private military contractors are portrayed in the media and the high profile criminal investigations that have happened in the United States concerning the actions of a small minority of contractors. Similar to the current image of the Canadian Armed Forces, the actions of a small number of members can significantly impact the overall public opinion of a group. Even though the majority of military contractors have not been charged or found guilty of any crime, events such as the Nisur Square shooting will be used to weaken the argument for private
Even in an insurgency that occurs in a country with a nonfunctioning central government or after a major conflict, the host nation must eventually provide a solution that is culturally acceptable to its society and meets U.S. policy goals. The conclusion of any counterinsurgency effort is primarily dependent on the host nation and the people who reside in that nation. Ultimately, every society has to provide solutions to its own problems. As such, one of the Army and Marine Corps’ primary roles in counterinsurgency is to enable the host nation” (Department,
Emizet, Kisangani N. F. . (2000). Explaining the Rise and Fall of Military Regimes: Civil-Military Relations in the Congo. Armed Forces & Society. 26 (2), p203-227.
Org. Updated Feb. 11, 2005. GlobalSecurity.org, Accessed 06 March 2005 &nbs 5 Ibid 6 Ibid 7 Ibid 8 Ibid 9 Ibid 10 “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” Conflict in Congo, PBS, October 22, 1998. Transcript. The.
Discrepancies arise in the strategic analysis of the security threat piracy and terrorism in the Horn of Africa actually poses. The amount of attacks that can be directly attributed to identified terrorist organizations are remarkably few. Nevertheless, piracy against both private and commercial vessels has increased. In 2012, according to the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), successful pirate seizers of merchant vessels were reduced from thirty-eight to twenty-one. However, the same report shows a near twenty five percent increase in the number of attempted attacks. On its official website, the International Maritime Organiza...
In pursuit of effectiveness, the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) has set itself a decent vision of “a professional prompt and decisive force.” The debate is whether the BDF can attain the level of military effectiveness espoused in its model vision. A capability appearing lethally effective in parade will not translate into an effective military or a cure for national security. Strategists such as Allen Millet, Williamson Murray, and Kenneth Watman, define military effectiveness as a process by which armed forces transform resources into fighting power. A fully effective military is one deriving maximum combat power from available resources physically and politically. Defense acquisition or procurement, as it’s otherwise known, plays a central role in military effectiveness. Linda S. Brant and Francis W A’ Hearn describe it as “a process whereby the military avail itself capabilities through expenditure of national treasure.” The BDF is not disposed to transform its resources proficiently enough to realize its envisioned effectiveness. Specifically, attainment of their vision is undermined by a mismatch between its missions and capabilities, deficient policies and a defense management framework and procurement system too duplicitous to attend the real needs and peculiarities of its military. The BDF’s vision of a light highly mobile force resonates well with missions dominated by action against non-state actors; poachers, border security, and peace enforcements operations. However, this has not been matched with the requisite capabilities (they tended to be heavy weapon platforms suited for interstate conflicts). Additionally, the BDF’s rapid development meant there wasn’t a corresponding growth in defense policies and strategies t...
IOs and states play a critical role in maintaining world peace and security. The United Nations (UN), in particular, is the centerpiece of global governance with respect to the maintenance of world peace. The UN provides general guidelines for all the states on how to solve potential conflicts and maintain international o...