Citation

McCoy KE. Armed Forces Soc. 2010; 36(4): 671-694.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0095327X10361668

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article applies the problem of civilian control over the military to the realm of private military contractors. The author argues that military outsourcing strips the principal —agent relationship of many of the structures and dynamics that states have traditionally used to control militaries. Many of the same qualities that make private military corporations successful as both economic actors and political surrogates also lead to reductions in the possibility for effective civilian control. The author supports these claims through an examination of the multilevel, fragmented, and global nature of the private military corporation market, with particular attention to divisions within the labor force. The implications of this analysis are that using private military corporations raises persistent challenges and tensions for effective state control that cannot be easily regulated away.