ABSTRACT
Private-sector intervention in civil conflicts will chiefly be determined by a state's willingness or ability to pay for it. In Bosnia, MPRI bill was shouldered by the country's richer Muslim allies; for many weak states in the developing world, however, there are fewer options. Given the availability of natural resources and the persistence of low-level internal conflict, the continued growth of private military companies seems assured. The emergence of private military companies reflects profound changes in international political relations and Western governments' strategic priorities. Military companies are motivated by profit, and are responsible primarily to their shareholders. An increasingly global marketplace means that these companies face fewer restrictions governing where they are based and to whom they are accountable. Military companies can have a significant coercive capability. In Sierra Leone, Executive Outcomes military success was instrumental in bringing the warring parties to the negotiating table.
