| Abstract [eng] |
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Westphalian international system rests on the fundamental premise of state sovereignty, which also implies state monopoly over the means of organised violence. However, since the end of the Cold War, the notion that only the state is capable of fielding a warfighting capability has been challenged by the phenomenon of Private Military Companies (PMCs). PMCs became rather visible actors in the contemporary conflicts and also an important component in the overall military capability of the leading military powers, such as the United States or United Kingdom. The question arises as to what extent the growth of private military industry advances a more general tendency towards privatisation of security function of the state and erodes its monopoly of military force. The study seeks to investigate the consequences of the rise of PMCs to international and national defence systems through the analysis of historical, legal and strategic aspects of the activities of PMCs. It draws a distinction between the historical concept of mercenaries and contemporary understanding of private military industry and discusses the range of defence and security functions that this industry performs. Having demonstrated the strategic rationale for employing PMCs in providing consulting, training, combat support and combat service support services, or even actual warfighting capability, the study looks into the legal problems associated with the activities of the PMCs. It shows how various attempts to regulate this industry nationally and internationally are made and how this affects the PMCs. Moral and democratic accountability arguments are brought forward in this context. The paper also looks at the new opportunities which arouse for the PMCs in the post-September 11 strategic environment. Despite lucrative contracts stemming from the military involvement of the US and its allies in Iraq or Afghanistan, there are also significant disadvantages of employing the PMCs in conflict zones, which the study also addresses. The paper concludes that, despite significant benefits derived from using the PMCs to bolster national and coalition military capabilities, their inherent functional drawbacks, concerns of the states about their sovereign authority and monopoly of military force as well as limited market opportunities outside major military powers, the US and the UK, will put significant constraints on the future role of PMCs in international relations and on their potential to further privatise security functions of the state. |
