War plc
The Rise of the New Corporate Mercenary
Published on 5. March 2009
272 pages
978-0-571-25233-6 (ISBN)
Description
They're ex-special forces, CIA spooks or Foreign Legionnaires.
They're fighting insurgents in Baghdad and patrolling government buildings in Afghanistan.
And now they're spying on environmental protestors and policing the 2012 Olympics.
They are above the law and independent from government.
They are the privatised armies of mercenaries.
Meet the private security contractors - a stock-market-listed corporate version of the mercenary. These private soldiers operate their million-dollar contracts from executive boardrooms in London, Washington, Paris and Oslo. With democracies unwilling to see their children die for strategic reasons in foreign lands, these corporate soldiers are part of the last great outsourcing - the privatisation of war.
'With an estimated 48,000 private security contractors at work in Iraq alone, corporate warfare is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Journalist Armstrong's excellent book looks into how these companies operate.' GQ
'Frightening . . . He has collected some chilling anecdotes about the corners cut by companies who are only interested in profit.' Metro
They're fighting insurgents in Baghdad and patrolling government buildings in Afghanistan.
And now they're spying on environmental protestors and policing the 2012 Olympics.
They are above the law and independent from government.
They are the privatised armies of mercenaries.
Meet the private security contractors - a stock-market-listed corporate version of the mercenary. These private soldiers operate their million-dollar contracts from executive boardrooms in London, Washington, Paris and Oslo. With democracies unwilling to see their children die for strategic reasons in foreign lands, these corporate soldiers are part of the last great outsourcing - the privatisation of war.
'With an estimated 48,000 private security contractors at work in Iraq alone, corporate warfare is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Journalist Armstrong's excellent book looks into how these companies operate.' GQ
'Frightening . . . He has collected some chilling anecdotes about the corners cut by companies who are only interested in profit.' Metro
More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
File size
0,80 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-571-25233-6 (9780571252336)
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
03/2009
Faber & Faber
€13.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Stephen Armstrong is a freelance journalist who writes for the Sunday Times, the Guardian, the New Statesman, GQ and Esquire as well as presenting the occasional documentary on Radio 4. His first book was The White Island, a history of Ibiza.
