Legal Control of the Private Military Corporation: Belling the Cheshire Cat

Private Military Firms, (PMFs), are the wave of the future. They challenge most of our assumptions about private parties inflicting military scale violence on societies. This book examines the phenomena of the PMF from a legal-political perspective, drawing on the best of legal theory, actual legal precedents, and real cases of PMF interventions. It provides an in depth examination of the PMF as a corporate actor in the international, domestic arenas, and various efforts to control it. Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 13 0.1 The problem: A transformation in sovereignty......Page 14 0.2 Aims and rationale......Page 18 0.3 Book synopsis......Page 21 1.1 Introduction......Page 24 1.2 Post–Cold War: The entrenchment of the contemporary PMC......Page 26 1.3 Classification of PMCs......Page 28 1.4 PMC centralization in national military operations......Page 39 1.5 PMCs and mercenaries: Tailored from the same cloth?......Page 41 1.6 Conclusion......Page 44 2.1 Introduction......Page 46 2.2 The corporate form as the distinctive difference between individual mercenaries and private armies......Page 48 2.3 The corporation: History, theory, and the PMC......Page 50 2.3.1 Concession theory of the corporation......Page 52 2.3.2 Contractual theory of the corporation......Page 53 2.3.3 Implications of corporate theory for the PMC......Page 54 2.4.1 Directors' duties and rights......Page 56 2.4.2 Shareholders' duties and rights......Page 57 2.4.3 Separate entity doctrine and the corporate veil......Page 58 2.4.4 Liability issues for deaths specific to the PMC......Page 60 2.4.5 The PMC and the contract to kill......Page 64 2.5 Corporate regulation......Page 65 2.5.1 The politics of corporate law regulation and the PMC......Page 68 2.6 Corporate governance and the PMC......Page 70 2.7 Should there be distinctive remedies available against corporate bodies engaged in PMC activities?......Page 74 2.8 Regulatory recommendations......Page 76 2.9 Conclusion......Page 78 3.2 The nation-state......Page 79 3.3 The nation-state and the monopoly of violence......Page 81 3.3.1 Nation-state and de facto control of armed groups and armaments......Page 82 3.3.2 Nation-state and de jure control of armed groups, weapons industries, and violence......Page 84 3.4 Privatization: A historical and policy perspective......Page 86 3.5 Privatization of defense services: Historical trajectories and market drivers......Page 87 3.6 Control and accountability of privatized defense forces......Page 89 3.7 Control of the corporation as creature of the state......Page 93 3.7.1 De jure control of the PMC—Law of contract......Page 94 3.7.2 De facto control of the PMC—Materiel and services......Page 97 3.8 Legal myths about control of the state's use of the monopoly of violence......Page 98 3.8.2 Legal challenges to government action......Page 99 3.9 The PMC challenge to monopoly of violence-based sovereignty......Page 103 3.10 Domestic PMCs and international influence—Lobby and geopolitical outcomes......Page 106 3.11 PMC as foreign policy tool: Five case studies......Page 109 3.11.1 Iraq: Supplementing unilateral action......Page 111 3.11.2 Sudan: Avoiding public scrutiny......Page 113 3.11.3 East Timor: Honoring international commitments......Page 115 3.11.4 Equatorial Guinea: Advancing domestic values on the international stage......Page 117 3.11.5 The Balkans: Achieving conflicting objectives by sleight of hand......Page 118 3.12 Regulatory recommendations......Page 120 3.13 Conclusion......Page 121 4.2 Regulation and regulatory design......Page 123 4.3 Is self-regulation of the PMC industry feasible?......Page 125 4.3.1 The International Peace Operations Association......Page 127 4.3.2 Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights......Page 129 4.3.3 Can self-regulation work?......Page 131 4.4 The case in favor of regulation......Page 132 4.5 Papua New Guinea: The Sandline Affair......Page 134 4.6 Iraq: CACI and Titan......Page 136 4.7 Can state regulation be effective......Page 137 4.7.1 New Zealand: National regulation consistent with International Treaty......Page 140 4.7.2 United States: Registration and licensing......Page 143 4.7.3 South Africa: Prohibition, registration and executive authorization......Page 145 4.7.4 United Kingdom: "Light footprint" regulation, if any......Page 150 4.8 Regulatory recommendations......Page 151 4.9 Conclusion......Page 153 5.1 Introduction......Page 156 5.2.1 General Assembly resolutions......Page 157 5.2.2 Specialized mercenary conventions......Page 160 5.2.3 The Law of Armed Conflict......Page 165 5.3 State responsibility: Snaring governmental and PMC duplicity......Page 170 5.3.1 State and nonstate actors......Page 171 5.4 PMCs and command responsibility: A new avenue for an established doctrine......Page 175 5.4.1 Embedding command responsibility in international law......Page 176 5.4.2 A new calculus: Should command responsibility embrace civilians?......Page 178 5.4.3 Abu Ghraib: State and command responsibility: Belling the corporate "devil"......Page 179 5.4.4 Corporate actors in the chain of command......Page 180 5.5 Regulatory recommendations......Page 183 5.6 Conclusion......Page 184 Conclusion: Taming the Wild Dogs......Page 186 Notes......Page 190 Bibliography......Page 235 A......Page 253 C......Page 254 E......Page 256 H......Page 257 J......Page 258 M......Page 259 P......Page 260 R......Page 261 S......Page 262 W......Page 264 Z......Page 265 "Private military corporations have nearly 50,000 armed security personnel on the ground in Iraq. That figure rivals the frontline personnel of many armies of the developed world. These corporations can provide everything from Blackhawk helicopters, to fighter jets, and tanks, to five star generals, missile guidance systems training, and interrogators. They stand outside the legal framework for various political, economic and traditional legal reasons. Yet given their formidable firepower and strategic value, not to mention their phenomenal growth over the last fifteen years, they are a force that must be reckoned with." "This work, authored by specialists in international law, corporate law, administrative and constitutional law, draws on their combined expertise and propose means of regulating this unique corporation. By examining the history, social context, and critical legal approaches, doctrines, and frameworks, the authors point to various means of developing regulation for the phenomenon."--book jacket Private military organizations are a new and important feature of the international landscape. They offer control of potential massive violence to the highest bidder with very limited accountability. This book offers critical insights into both the phenomenon and the challenges of and potential for regulation. Private military firms : the new face of war The corporate form and the private military firm The state and the private security firm in the domestic context The regulation of private military companies Private military firms under international law.