Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) in Modern International Processes

The period of rapid growth and development of the phenomenon, that is presently characterized as private military and security companies (PMSCs), coincided with two processes of modern history of international relations: the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the US Global War on Terror (GWOT) in Afghanistan. Concurrently, state attitude towards violence and transformation of warfare has been changing as well. Two different approaches to the history of the private security market’s rise unveil the fact that, in one way or another, the originators of the private security services were associated with the defense industry and armed forces. Non-state security actors look back on a history that stretches to mid- and the second half of the 20th century – the period of national liberation movements across the world. Meanwhile, the 1990s marked the rapid growth in the number of PMSCs and in the development and enlargement of the market in private security services. Its growth is ongoing and is gaining the interest of new states, particularly in utilizing its capacity as a political instrument. Against the backdrop of global political processes, the private security market experienced technological growth and enhancement. Both the normative regulation and the approaches of the international community to the phenomenon of PMSCs have been evolving and changing. Despite its functionality, flexibility and technological advantages, the market of private security can challenge human rights, as well as bare responsibility for corruption and improper fulfillment of contractual obligations. Nevertheless, episodes of revealed grave violations rarely reach courts, with infrequent cases of perpetrators’ sentencing. These, among problems occurring in the private security industry, require close attention by states and the international community, which has been making efforts for elaboration of the applicable normative mechanisms to regulate private military and security activity for over fifteen years.

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