Chapter 13 — The future of the market

As previous chapters have shown, the privatization of military and security services in the past decade encompasses a vast range of activities that defy any single explanation. Armed private actors, especially in Western states, now fulfil tasks ranging from military activities that used to be the prerogative of national armed forces to the support of humanitarian aid, disaster relief operations, and state-building. At the same time the developing world, in particular Sub-Saharan Africa, has seen increasing privatization of predominantly domestic security services, such as policing. Although the two phenomena need to be distinguished analytically in that they are caused by different circumstances, both trends are linked to structural changes in the social, economic, political, and strategic spheres that are truly global in nature. In other words, social forces penetrate national borders more easily, and models of controlling violence are therefore emulated across borders without major difficulties. At the same time, both the demand and the supply of private security services are becoming increasingly globalized. Private companies offer security personnel, risk management, and training services on a trans-national basis. States as well as private actors — in theory — get value-for-money through a choice that is not limited by national boundaries.