Private Military Companies and the Effect on the Control of Force in the Developing World

Abstract: With the privatisation of war and the increasing importance of non-state actors in conflict, the need to study their effects on governments is increasing. This thesis? purpose is to analyse the effects on the government's control of force in the developing world, when contracting a Private Military Company (PMC). By applying a Civil-Military Relations model, focusing on the functional, political and social control of force, with a comparative case-study methodology conclusions are drawn. In the study the four cases of Angola, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea and Colombia are analysed. The research has been conducted using secondary material. Furthermore, the study also focuses on the PMCs Executive Outcomes and Sandline, as well as those companies that in one way or the other have been involved in the cases analysed. Hence, the impact of other transnational commercial enterprises?, in the mining and oil industry, on governments control of force is also touched upon.