Synopses & Reviews
The US military is no longer based on a Cold War self-sufficient model. Today's armed forces are a third smaller than they were during the Cold War, and yet they are expected to do as much if not more than they did during the Cold War. As a result, transformation is occurring rapidly and radically in the way the US government expects the military to conduct both expeditionary and stabilization operations. Much of that transformation is increasingly contingent on the use of contractors to deliver support to the armed forces during military campaigns and afterwards. This book explains the reasons behind this transformation and looks to the future to assess how the private sector will help shape US military operations in 'fourth generation' expeditionary combat and stabilization situations. It highlights how the decision to turn to the market for these services will affect the military's capacity for future operations, while for contractors the decision represents opportunity, challenge, and some risk.
With contributors drawn from a mix of policy, legislative, and academic backgrounds, the book not only lays out the philosophical argument supporting the use of the private sector in military and stabilization operations, but also provides policy guidance for this approach.
Review
"This book brings together several relevant views on a very important contemporary issue. It provides a foundation for the development of new theory by offering a way to "see" the challenges associated with the contemporary use of contractors in support of U.S. expeditionary operations."Claude Christianson, LtGen, US Army (Retired)
Review
"In the cacophony of books about military operations since 9/11, Contractors and War is truly a standout. Not only are the contributors authentic experts, they avoid the platitudes that mar lesser efforts, and instead sink their teeth into the toughest issues. This book is a 'must-have' for any serious practitioner or policy maker interested in the way the US has workedand will workwith contractors in 21st century operations."Charles J. Dunlap, Jr., Maj. Gen. USAF (Ret.), Executive Director, Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, Duke University
Review
"The US military's increasing dependence on contractors raises questions of accountability that go far beyond episodic outrage at the misconduct of individuals. Contractors and War offers thoughtful analysis of the diminishing range of activities that remain inherently governmentalas well as the opportunities and the costs of the privatization of US power."Simon Chesterman, Dean, National University of Singapore Faculty of Law and Global Professor, New York University Faculty of Law
Review
"The books succeeds in evoking further examination from its broad audience by organizing expert analysis and deftly capturing the contractor dynamics that will affect how the nation projects power abroad and how it will be perceived in so doing."Lt. Curtis Nickel, US Naval Institute Proceedings
Review
"The strength of this combined work is the multiple subjects covered within it, which give an insight into many of the key issues from a number of viewpoints."Iain Gibson, RUSI Journal
Synopsis
This book examines the impact of contractors on the American way of war.
Synopsis
The U.S. military is no longer based on a Cold War self-sufficient model. Today's armed forces are a third smaller than they were during the Cold War, and yet are expected to do as much if not more than they did during those years. As a result, a transformation is occurring in the way the U.S. government expects the military to conduct operationswith much of that transformation contingent on the use of contractors to deliver support to the armed forces during military campaigns and afterwards.
Contractors and War explains the reasons behind this transformation and evaluates how the private sector will shape and be shaped by future operations. The authors are drawn from a range of policy, legislative, military, legal, and academic backgrounds. They lay out the philosophical arguments supporting the use of contractors in combat and stabilization operations and present a spectrum of arguments that support and criticize emergent private sector roles. The book provides fresh policy guidance to those who will research, direct, and carry out future deployments.
About the Author
Christopher Kinsey is a senior lecturer in international security with King's College London. Based in the Defence Studies Department at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, he teaches military officers from around the world. His research interest is the role of contractors in war. Dr Kinsey has published widely on this subject in leading academic journals and his previous books include Corporate Soldiers and International Security (Routledge, 2006); Private Contractors and the Reconstruction of Iraq: Transforming Military Logistics (Routledge, 2009). Malcolm Hugh Patterson is an Australian lawyer who teaches international law and international relations. Since the award of his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2008 he has taught at the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University in Sydney. He is the author of Privatising Peace: A Corporate Adjunct to United Nations Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Operations (Palgrave 2009); and has published in the Journal of Conflict and Security Law and contributed a chapter to The Global Arms Trade: A Handbook.