Privatization of warfare and economics
Are Private Military Firms The Answer To The Expanding Global Crisis?
Benjamin A. Neil, Towson University, USA
Benjamin A. Neil, II, Towson University, USA
International Business & Economics Research Journal – February 2011 Volume 10, Number 2
ABSTRACT
For the first time in history of the modern nation-state, governments are voluntarily surrendering one of the essential and defining attributes of statehood – the state’s monopoly on the legitimate use of force. This leads to the privatization of war and conflicts. Following the end of the Cold War, downsizing and modernization of armed forces have overstretched U.S. and western militaries deployed abroad, and the transition of national security away from risk avoidance to a risk management focus has increased the trend towards the outsourcing of functions previously performed by the military to private military firms.