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The media have reported the presence of Private military and Security Companies personnel hired by the Nigerian government to fight the jihadists of Boko Haram. As is customary, the employment of such personnel has raised controversy about the nature of the services provided by these companies, as well as the reasons that have pushed Nigeria to option to these companies. This text offers some keys to understanding the situation in question., Los medios de comunicación han desvelado la presencia de personal de Empresas Militares y de Seguridad Privada contratados por el gobierno nigeriano para combatir a los yihadistas de Boko Haram. Como ya es tradicional, el empleo de este personal ha planteado controversias sobre el carácter de los servicios que prestan estas compañías, así como de las razones que han empujado a Nigeria a recurrir a estas empresas. Este documento ofrece algunas claves para entender la situación planteada.

Sobel, a portmanteau of soldier and rebel, appears to have been coined in Sierra Leone during the 1990s. This was a period marked in parts of West Africa by fighting over conflict diamonds, also known as blood diamonds, when government soldiers discovered how lucrative it could be to serve as soldiers by day, rebels by night or, as the villagers called them, sobels. On closer examination, it can be observed that the relationship between the soldiers of the Sierra Leonean Army and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the rebel group which during the country s civil war occupied large portions of diamond-rich land, changed over time, thus making the sobel phenomenon more like the sobel phenomena. Unfortunately, the presence of sobels is often an indication that a war is profitable for both rebels and soldiers, providing them with an incentive to lengthen the conflict to maximize their earnings. With neither side able to score a decisive win, both sides profit. Meanwhile, the rural population, essentially held hostage during the conflict, is often terrorized so as not to intervene. Though Sierra Leone appears to be where the sobel neologism originated, variations of the soldier-by-day, rebel-by-night phenomenon can be found in many parts of Africa. By studying the sobel phenomenon and its variations, it is possible to determine what factors influence government soldiers to join rebel forces, ways to dissuade them from joining, and, if they do join, possible ways to induce them to return permanently to government service. While the sobel phenomenon described in this article may appear to be an African problem, the Western world's increasing involvement in fighting terrorists make it one that America's military forces might encounter. Unfortunately, it could add a significant layer of complexity to U.S. operations as American troops attempt to differentiate allies from enemies. In Africa, sometimes they are one and the same., Published in Parameters, v43 n4 p67-75, Winter 2013-2014.

En la disertación se aborda la relación entre el concepto de mercenariato de Maquiavelo y el problema de la construcción de Estado, utilizando para ello el caso de Executive Outcomes en Sierra Leona

Krig ser idag inte ut som de en gång gjorde; totala krig har ersatts med inomstatliga konflikter och humanitära interventioner. I och med detta har även staters roll som ensamma aktörer förändrats och idag finns det även privata aktörer som är aktiva i krig. Denna uppsats har ett dualt syfte där den dels syftar till att utveckla just war-teorin till att även kunna inkludera dessa nya aktörer, dels göra en bedömning huruvida två privata aktörers agerande var rättfärdigat eller ej. Teorin vi ämnar utveckla är av normativ karaktär och bygger på värdena fred och mänskliga rättigheter, vilka vi anser är intrinsikala värden, men som även kan vara instrumentella. I fallet med Executive Outcomes i Sierra Leone fann vi att denna operation i stora drag var rättfärdigad medan Blackwaters agerande på Nisourtorget i Irak inte var det. För att på ett tillfredställande sätt kunna använda vår teori på PMCs är vår slutsats att de fördrag och konventioner som styr krig måste omarbetas för att bli mindre statscentristiska. Vidare måste även statusen av PMCs som aktörer förtydligas.

In Sierra Leone, civil war has affected the civilian population and the development of the country for long periods of time. In order to end the violence a number of military operations were conducted. This essay, dealing with internal and external regulatory instruments is used to put a case study of two operations in a larger context. By developing efficient parameters and applying these to the case studies, a comparison of two of the operations, one conducted by Executive Outcomes, which is a private military company, and one conducted by a united nations peacekeeping force, UNAMSIL a discussion whether PMC operations should be used in future conflicts or even by the UN in its peacekeeping operations by answering my key question: When compared, which is the most effective security provider, and peacekeeper, Private Military Companies or UN peacekeeping forces?

The provision of military and armed security services typically is the monopoly domain of the state. With the end of the Cold War legitimate private firms, however, expanded as worldwide providers of military and security services. The proliferation of private military companies echoes back to pre-modern eras when it was customary for state rulers to allocate force and security through the market. This study therefore aims to explore and explain the rapid rise of transnational corporate military service provision in our time, and to ground this change process historically by exploring the economic history of private military service provision. Historically this study primarily addresses private military service provision during Medieval and Early Modern periods. During these eras state and local rulers relied on contractual institutions to employ military companies and other private military actors. To explain the rise of private military service provision in our time this study explores global institutional changes, national institutional arrangements and military privatization paths, and the proliferation of transnational private military companies. This study demonstrates that the capacity of the modern state to control, sanction and exercise legitimate violence has not diminished, but it has rather been transformed by the resurgence of contractual arrangements under new post-Cold War institutions. Today modern states control private military companies through formal rules and informal norms, competition constraints, and through informal ties between public sector and military officials and entrusted private military firm executives. Modern states that are able to provide security as a public good primarily hire military service firms to augment regular forces and public security provision. The substitution of public security and military force resurfaced in weak states as a short-term response to armed conflicts, political instabilities, and humanitarian crises.

This study by Larry J. Woods and Colonel Timothy R. Reese analyzes the massive turmoil afflicting the nation of Sierra Leone, 1993-2002, and the efforts by a variety of outside forces to bring lasting stability to that small country. The taxonomy of intervention ranged from private mercenary armies, through the Economic Community of West African States, to the United Nations and the United Kingdom. In every case, those who intervened encountered a common set of difficulties that had to be overcome. Unsurprisingly, they also discovered challenges unique to their own organizations and political circumstances. Serving soldiers can often profit vicariously from the mistakes of others as recounted in detailed case studies of historical events. This cogent analysis of recent interventions in Sierra Leone represents a cautionary tale that political leaders and military planners contemplating intervention in Africa ignore at their peril. Chapter 1 provides a brief historical overview of Sierra Leone from its pre-colonial origins through 1992 and the start of a decade of civil war. Chapter 2 examines the years 1993 to 1997 during which the private military organization Executive Outcomes was called in by the Sierra Leone government in an attempt to restore order and stability. Chapter 3 looks at Sierra Leone after 1997 when it again descended into chaos and analyzes the military intervention of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its military arm, led by its largest member, Nigeria. Chapter 4 reviews the international intervention led the by the United Nations and Great Britain between 1999 and 2002. Finally, Chapter 5 provides some conclusions and insights., ISBN-13: 978-0-9801236-4-7. ISBN-10: 0-9801236-4-X. The Long War Series.

This thesis examines controversies regarding the use of private military companies (PMCs) as defense contractors. The history of privatized security, consideration of ethical and legal issues, and examination of three case studies allows assessment of PMCs in accordance with five criteria for success: competence, cost efficiency analysis, control, flexibility, and impact on state armed forces. After examining three case studies representing a variety of types of PMCs (Executive Outcomes in Angola and Sierra Leone, Military Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI) in Croatia, and Blackwater in Afghanistan and Iraq), the thesis finds that although PMCs can be used legitimately and to good effect, expanded use of PMCs may pose serious risks to U.S. forces, national security objectives, and U.S. political legitimacy., The original document contains color images.

This thesis investigates the post-Cold War evolution of private military companies. Specifically this study will focus on the measure of international legitimacy that is afforded to private military companies that conduct active military assistance operations that have a strategic impact on the political and security environments in which they are contracted to operate. The thesis has focussed the contract operations conducted by Executive Outcomes (Republic of South Africa), Sandline International (United Kingdom), and Military Professional Resources Incorporated (United States of America) within the time frame of 1988 to the present. The study concludes that at the international level, active military assistance operations conducted by private military companies are indeed legitimate, but that measurement of legitimacy can only be assessed as being de-facto and amoral. Moreover these missions are being conducted within a vacuum of effective regulation and accountability at the international and national levels that is decidedly inappropriate for the international realm in the twenty first century., 2 Aug 2000 to 1 Jun 2001