Private security, military companies and foreign fighters

The phenomena of both private security actors and foreign fighters (FFs) have attracted attention in academia, political circles and the media, as they have increasingly become defining features of the 21^st century security environment. This chapter provides a primary pilot research platform that can be utilised in future research and identification potential practical implications in this regard. It focuses on the analysis of the potential existing relationships and interactions between private security and military companies (PSMCs) and foreign fighters, and the potentially strong practical implications those interactions might have. The chapter offers a preliminary inquiry into a topic that has a number of significant practical implications to the strategies, doctrines, and policies, as well as legal and regulatory frameworks of various aspects of the contemporary global security environment. One of the number of various potential practical implications of the possible interactions between PSMCs and FFs that requires attention is the merging dynamics between the two phenomena at hand.