Citation

Dokubo C. Civ. Wars 2000; 3(2): 51.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13698240008402438

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The emergence of private military corporations that either have a combat capability or can advise and equip militaries to fight has once again exposed the nature of insecurity in Africa. The decisive role played by EO [Executive Outcomes] in Angola and Sierra Leone and the prospects of it and its competitors having unlimited potential for expansion in Africa, has made the regulation of private security forces a new and complex issue. The problem of exercising control over the private provision of violence will become more pressing in the future as the international community abdicates its responsibility by increasingly allowing African solutions to African wars, as the glut of conventional weaponry makes it easier for private firms to arm, and as advances in technology (for example, the private provision of aerial and satellite reconnaissance) enable firms to supply the type of combat support that was until recently thought to be within the ambit of States [J. Herbst, South African Yearbook of International Affairs 1999/2000].