ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the growth of the private military companies is the result of structural changes in the size and funding levels of Western armed forces and growing international reluctance to commit national armies and international coalitions to internal conflicts. Military companies offer military skills that were once the preserve of governments. Their essential purpose is to enhance the capability of a client's military forces to function better in war, or to deter conflict more effectively. The expansion of the private military sector since the end of the Cold War stems partly from Western military-force reductions. The US armed forces employ one-third fewer personnel than at their Cold War peak, while the British Army's current head count, at 112,000, is the lowest since the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. US and British companies dominate the market and, although their activities appear to be those of an independent commercial enterprise, few act outside the national interests of their home states.
