ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the governance argument. According to the governance argument, some officers exercise substantial power over civilian decisions of military authorization and supply, and they make weighty decisions in battle that affect the fundamental interests of those whom they protect and those whom they attack. The chapter presents the suppliers that animate independent military contractors and private military and security companies (PMSCs). Then, it considers a prominent defense of private armies that is given by Cecile Fabre. After criticizing Fabre, the author proposes the governance argument as a means of limiting the scope of permissible military outsourcing. The chapter then offers two independent rationales for the conclusion of this argument. All private personnel who supply military services to entities that have authorized military force are referred to as military contractors. They fall into one of two classes: independent contractors and non-independent contractors.
