The Modern Mercenary
Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order
Published on 29. June 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-0-19-062108-7 (ISBN)
Description
It was 2004, and Sean McFate had a mission in Burundi: to keep the president alive and prevent the country from spiraling into genocide without anyone knowing that the United States was involved. The United States was, of course, involved, but only through McFate's employer, the military contractor DynCorp International. Throughout Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, similar scenarios are playing out daily. The United States can no longer go to war or carry out covert operations without contractors. In 2010, the Pentagon's budget for private contractors was seven times the entire U.K. defense budget.
How did this state of affairs come to be? How does the shadowy world of military contracting actually operate? And what do trends suggest about the future of war and international relations? We simply don't know much about the structure of the industry, how private military companies operate, and where this industry is heading. Typically led by ex-military men, such firms are by their very nature secretive. Even the US government--the entity that actually pays them--knows relatively little.
In The Modern Mercenary, former industry insider Sean McFate lays bare the opaque world of private military contractors, explaining the economic structure of the industry and showing in detail how firms operate on the ground. As a former paratrooper and private military contractor, McFate provides an unparalleled perspective into the nuts and bolts of the industry, as well as a sobering prognosis for the future of war. While at present the U.S. government and U.S. firms dominate the market, private military companies are emerging from other countries, and warlords and militias have restyled themselves as private security companies in places like Afghanistan and Somalia. To understand how the proliferation of private forces may influence international relations, McFate looks back to the European Middle Ages, when mercenaries were common and contract warfare the norm. He concludes that international relations in the twenty-first century may have more in common with the twelfth century than the twentieth. This "back to the future" situation, which he calls neomedievalism, is not necessarily a negative condition, but it will produce a global system that contains rather than solves problems.
A decidedly non-polemical account (a rarity in this field), The Modern Mercenary is the first work that combines a broad-ranging theory of the phenomenon with an insider's understanding of what the world of the private military industry is actually like.
How did this state of affairs come to be? How does the shadowy world of military contracting actually operate? And what do trends suggest about the future of war and international relations? We simply don't know much about the structure of the industry, how private military companies operate, and where this industry is heading. Typically led by ex-military men, such firms are by their very nature secretive. Even the US government--the entity that actually pays them--knows relatively little.
In The Modern Mercenary, former industry insider Sean McFate lays bare the opaque world of private military contractors, explaining the economic structure of the industry and showing in detail how firms operate on the ground. As a former paratrooper and private military contractor, McFate provides an unparalleled perspective into the nuts and bolts of the industry, as well as a sobering prognosis for the future of war. While at present the U.S. government and U.S. firms dominate the market, private military companies are emerging from other countries, and warlords and militias have restyled themselves as private security companies in places like Afghanistan and Somalia. To understand how the proliferation of private forces may influence international relations, McFate looks back to the European Middle Ages, when mercenaries were common and contract warfare the norm. He concludes that international relations in the twenty-first century may have more in common with the twelfth century than the twentieth. This "back to the future" situation, which he calls neomedievalism, is not necessarily a negative condition, but it will produce a global system that contains rather than solves problems.
A decidedly non-polemical account (a rarity in this field), The Modern Mercenary is the first work that combines a broad-ranging theory of the phenomenon with an insider's understanding of what the world of the private military industry is actually like.
Reviews / Votes
"Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand a new component of modern warfare. The prevalence of privatized military forces raises serious political, economic, and moral questions. In The Modern Mercenary, Sean McFate applies his years of experience as a US army paratrooper and private military contractor to explore these questions through invaluable case studies and penetrating analysis." --General Stanley A. McChrystal, co-founder,McChrystal Group
"The Modern Mercenary is an adrenalin-fueled jaunt through today's battlefields, where we find not just the armies of the state, but 'security professionals' whose considerable skills are available for hire. Writing from first-hand experience as a contractor in the field, Sean McFate helps us understand this complex world beyond the cartoon criticisms and film-inspired lore to see both the obvious dangers and the potential benefits provided by a
shadowy industry." --Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret), Former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and Dean, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
"The Iraq War and Blackwater may seem like yesterday's headlines, but the private military industry is still going strong. In The Modern Mercenary, a book powered by deep research and filled with fascinating details, Sean McFate deftly explores both the historic parallels of today's trade in military services for hire, and its likely future." --P.W. Singer, author of Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry and
Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know
"McFate understands his subject from the inside. His excellent book shows convincingly the urgent need for our governments, and those who work for them, to grasp the consequences of their frequent use of private military companies before they lose control of them." --General Sir Rupert Smith KCB DSO OBE QGM
"Private Military Companies are now part of the security landscape. Sean McFate's thoughtful study of who they are, what they do and how governments interact with them will benefit all engaged in foreign policy, military activities and humanitarian efforts." --General Carter F. Ham, U.S. Army, Retired. Former Commander, U.S. Africa Command
"At last we have a serious academic study of the role of military contractors in the execution of modern warfare. The analysis of neo-medievalism and the privatization of conflict is especially thought-provoking--a must read for political leaders who are drawn into having to fight today's wars." --Sir Richard Dearlove KCMG OBE, Master, Pembroke College and former head of MI6
"McFate's persuasive, unsettling, and nonpolemical account describes the way PMSCs are changing the face of war." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"A fascinating and disturbing book . . . Mr. McFate writes with an insider's knowledge . . . the worrying trends he describes make this book a powerful call to arms to those who do not want a world awash with mercenaries."--The Economist
"While making the case that contractors are a here-to-stay force, McFate points out that this has deep implications, both positive and negative, for modern warfare and international relations, and believes it's important to consider both sides."--The New York Post
"The Modern Mercenary is filled with fascinating stuff, and its bottom line is that there is no stopping the continuing development of the market for force."--Strategy and Business
"What McFate does best in this book is to add structure and sobriety to the discussion by classifying different types of mercenary services and firms, and to carefully and dispassionately lay out the arguments for and against a 'free market for force.' " --Scholars and Rogues
"The Modern Mercenary will reward anyone looking for a deeper understanding of market-driven contemporary conflict." --War on the Rocks
"A thoughtful, interesting read that may turn out to be scarily prescient in the years to come."--io9
"Thought-provoking . . . Some of [McFate's] stories have never been told before, which makes the book particularly valuable." --Foreign Affairs
"[The Modern Mercenary] is a highly provocative and enriching addition to the literature on the private military industry and stands apart from much contemporary scholarship on the subject . . . McFate does a good job interweaving a rich and easy-to-read historical analysis with his overall thesis, drawing fascinating parallels between our medieval past-complete with mercenaries, military entrepreneurs and privatized warfare-and their post-modern
contemporaries in an emerging neo-medieval present." --International Affairs
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
465 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-062108-7 (9780190621087)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
01/2015
Oxford University Press Inc
€29.75
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
Associate Professor, National Defense University; Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown School of Foreign Service; Adjunct Social Scientist, RAND Corporation
Content
1. Peace Through Profit Motive?
2. Understanding the Market for Force
3. A Growing Dependency
4. How Did We Get Here?
5. Why Private Armies Have Returned
6. The Murky Side of Private Force
7. The Modern World Order: A Brief History
8. Neomedievalism
9. Neomedieval Warfare
10. Liberia: Building Better Armies
11. Somalia: A Neomedieval Tale
12. Medieval Modernity
Glossary
Annexes
Annex A: IDIQ Contract (S-LMAQM-03-00034)
Annex B: Contract Amendment (raises contract ceiling)
Annex C: Liberia Military Program Timeline
2. Understanding the Market for Force
3. A Growing Dependency
4. How Did We Get Here?
5. Why Private Armies Have Returned
6. The Murky Side of Private Force
7. The Modern World Order: A Brief History
8. Neomedievalism
9. Neomedieval Warfare
10. Liberia: Building Better Armies
11. Somalia: A Neomedieval Tale
12. Medieval Modernity
Glossary
Annexes
Annex A: IDIQ Contract (S-LMAQM-03-00034)
Annex B: Contract Amendment (raises contract ceiling)
Annex C: Liberia Military Program Timeline