ABSTRACT

This chapter highlights the need for contractor accountability, care, and transparency. It includes the steps that the military should take to ensure that those private security companies (PSCs) currently being employed and the ones that may be hired in the future are better integrated with the military and political planning, operations, and endstate. One thorny issue that still surrounds the hiring of PSCs is legal jurisdiction. Nevertheless, not all contractors are hired by the US government; many are hired not just by other states but through other PMCs, multinational corporations, and NGOs. The chapter discusses second contractor war, piracy and private maritime security companies (PMSCs) and armed military privatization. The commodification of force, the moral and legal status of security contractors, and the possible effects of private security on the military as a profession should be part of a wider public debate on whether states should use armed private security and in what circumstances.