The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order 1st Edition by Sean McFate (PDF)

Description

It was 2004, and Sean McFate had a mission in Burundi: to keep the president alive and prevent the country from spiraling into genocide, without anyone knowing that the United States was involved. The United States was, of course, involved, but only through McFate’s employer, the militarycontractor DynCorp International. Throughout the world, similar scenarios are playing out daily. The United States can no longer go to war without contractors. Yet we don’t know much about the industry’s structure, its operations, or where it’s heading. Typically led by ex-military men, contractorfirms are by their very nature secretive. Even the U.S. government-the entity that actually pays them-knows relatively little.In The Modern Mercenary, Sean McFate lays bare this opaque world, explaining the economic structure of the industry and showing in detail how firms operate on the ground. A former U.S. Army paratrooper and private military contractor, McFate provides an unparalleled perspective into the nuts andbolts of the industry, as well as a sobering prognosis for the future of war. While at present, the U.S. government and U.S. firms dominate the market, private military companies are emerging from other countries, and warlords and militias have restyled themselves as private security companies inplaces like Afghanistan and Somalia. To understand how the proliferation of private forces may influence international relations, McFate looks back to the European Middle Ages, when mercenaries were common and contract warfare the norm. He concludes that international relations in the twenty-firstcentury may have more in common with the twelfth century than the twentieth. This “back to the future” situation, which he calls “neomedievalism,” is not necessarily a negative condition, but it will produce a global system that contains rather than solves problems. The Modern Mercenary is the first work that combines a broad-ranging theory of the phenomenon with an insider’s understanding of what the world of the private military industry is actually like.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand a new component of modern warfare. The prevalence of privatized military forces raises serious political, economic, and moral questions. In The Modern Mercenary, Sean McFate applies his years of experience as a US army paratrooper and private military contractor to explore these questions through invaluable case studies and penetrating analysis.” –General Stanley A. McChrystal, co-founder, McChrystal Group “The Modern Mercenary is an adrenalin-fueled jaunt through today’s battlefields, where we find not just the armies of the state, but ‘security professionals’ whose considerable skills are available for hire. Writing from first-hand experience as a contractor in the field, Sean McFate helps us understand this complex world beyond the cartoon criticisms and film-inspired lore to see both the obvious dangers and the potential benefits provided by a shadowy industry.” –Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret), Former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and Dean, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University “The Iraq War and Blackwater may seem like yesterday’s headlines, but the private military industry is still going strong. In The Modern Mercenary, a book powered by deep research and filled with fascinating details, Sean McFate deftly explores both the historic parallels of today’s trade in military services for hire, and its likely future.” –P.W. Singer, author of Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry and Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know “McFate understands his subject from the inside. His excellent book shows convincingly the urgent need for our governments, and those who work for them, to grasp the consequences of their frequent use of private military companies before they lose control of them.” –General Sir Rupert Smith KCB DSO OBE QGM “Private Military Companies are now part of the security landscape. Sean McFate’s thoughtful study of who they are, what they do and how governments interact with them will benefit all engaged in foreign policy, military activities and humanitarian efforts.” –General Carter F. Ham, U.S. Army, Retired. Former Commander, U.S. Africa Command “At last we have a serious academic study of the role of military contractors in the execution of modern warfare. The analysis of neo-medievalism and the privatization of conflict is especially thought-provoking–a must read for political leaders who are drawn into having to fight today’s wars.” –Sir Richard Dearlove KCMG OBE, Master, Pembroke College and former head of MI6″McFate’s persuasive, unsettling, and nonpolemical account describes the way PMSCs are changing the face of war.” –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review”A fascinating and disturbing book . . . Mr. McFate writes with an insider’s knowledge . . . the worrying trends he describes make this book a powerful call to arms to those who do not want a world awash with mercenaries.”–The Economist “While making the case that contractors are a here-to-stay force, McFate points out that this has deep implications, both positive and negative, for modern warfare and international relations, and believes it’s important to consider both sides.”–The New York Post”The Modern Mercenary is filled with fascinating stuff, and its bottom line is that there is no stopping the continuing development of the market for force.”–Strategy and Business”What McFate does best in this book is to add structure and sobriety to the discussion by classifying different types of mercenary services and firms, and to carefully and dispassionately lay out the arguments for and against a ‘free market for force.’ ” –Scholars and Rogues”The Modern Mercenary will reward anyone looking for a deeper understanding of market-driven contemporary conflict.” –War on the Rocks”A thoughtful, interesting read that may turn out to be scarily prescient in the years to come.”–io9″Thought-provoking . . . Some of [McFate’s] stories have never been told before, which makes the book particularly valuable.” –Foreign Affairs”[The Modern Mercenary] is a highly provocative and enriching addition to the literature on the private military industry and stands apart from much contemporary scholarship on the subject . . . McFate does a good job interweaving a rich and easy-to-read historical analysis with his overall thesis, drawing fascinating parallels between our medieval past-complete with mercenaries, military entrepreneurs and privatized warfare-and their post-modern contemporaries in an emerging neo-medieval present.” –International Affairs “Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand a new component of modern warfare. The prevalence of privatized military forces raises serious political, economic, and moral questions. In The Modern Mercenary, Sean McFate applies his years of experience as a US army paratrooper and private military contractor to explore these questions through invaluable case studies and penetrating analysis.” –General Stanley A. McChrystal, co-founder, McChrystal Group “The Modern Mercenary is an adrenalin-fueled jaunt through today’s battlefields, where we find not just the armies of the state, but ‘security professionals’ whose considerable skills are available for hire. Writing from first-hand experience as a contractor in the field, Sean McFate helps us understand this complex world beyond the cartoon criticisms and film-inspired lore to see both the obvious dangers and the potential benefits provided by a shadowy industry.” –Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret), Former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and Dean, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University “The Iraq War and Blackwater may seem like yesterday’s headlines, but the private military industry is still going strong. In The Modern Mercenary, a book powered by deep research and filled with fascinating details, Sean McFate deftly explores both the historic parallels of today’s trade in military services for hire, and its likely future.” –P.W. Singer, author of Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry and Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know “McFate understands his subject from the inside. His excellent book shows convincingly the urgent need for our governments, and those who work for them, to grasp the consequences of their frequent use of private military companies before they lose control of them.” –General Sir Rupert Smith KCB DSO OBE QGM “Private Military Companies are now part of the security landscape. Sean McFate’s thoughtful study of who they are, what they do and how governments interact with them will benefit all engaged in foreign policy, military activities and humanitarian efforts.” –General Carter F. Ham, U.S. Army, Retired. Former Commander, U.S. Africa Command “At last we have a serious academic study of the role of military contractors in the execution of modern warfare. The analysis of neo-medievalism and the privatization of conflict is especially thought-provoking–a must read for political leaders who are drawn into having to fight today’s wars.” –Sir Richard Dearlove KCMG OBE, Master, Pembroke College and former head of MI6″McFate’s persuasive, unsettling, and nonpolemical account describes the way PMSCs are changing the face of war.” –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review”A fascinating and disturbing book . . . Mr. McFate writes with an insider’s knowledge . . . the worrying trends he describes make this book a powerful call to arms to those who do not want a world awash with mercenaries.”–The Economist “While making the case that contractors are a here-to-stay force, McFate points out that this has deep implications, both positive and negative, for modern warfare and international relations, and believes it’s important to consider both sides.”–The New York Post”The Modern Mercenary is filled with fascinating stuff, and its bottom line is that there is no stopping the continuing development of the market for force.”–Strategy and Business”What McFate does best in this book is to add structure and sobriety to the discussion by classifying different types of mercenary services and firms, and to carefully and dispassionately lay out the arguments for and against a ‘free market for force.’ ” –Scholars and Rogues”The Modern Mercenary will reward anyone looking for a deeper understanding of market-driven contemporary conflict.” –War on the Rocks”A thoughtful, interesting read that may turn out to be scarily prescient in the years to come.”–io9″Thought-provoking . . . Some of [McFate’s] stories have never been told before, which makes the book particularly valuable.” –Foreign Affairs”[The Modern Mercenary] is a highly provocative and enriching addition to the literature on the private military industry and stands apart from much contemporary scholarship on the subject . . . McFate does a good job interweaving a rich and easy-to-read historical analysis with his overall thesis, drawing fascinating parallels between our medieval past-complete with mercenaries, military entrepreneurs and privatized warfare-and their post-modern contemporaries in an emerging neo-medieval present.” –International Affairs About the Author Sean McFate is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, an Associate Professor at the National Defense University, and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. Previously, he lived and worked in Africa for DynCorp International, a company thatprovides international security services. He was also an officer and paratrooper in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The author has been an officer in the 82nd Airborne, has a Ph.D from the London School of Economics, teaches at the National Defense University and has been a mercenary, so he knows what he’s talking about. I have the paperback which has 168 pages excluding some detailed annexes with contracts, footnotes, etc. The Ph.D background is important because the book has a detailed history of the prior use of mercenaries over the millenia and particularly the Middle Ages.Fundamentally he argues that private armies, mercenary forces and the like were common until the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, after which the use of force was increasingly arrogated to forces raised by states, culminating in World War 1 and World War II, which represent the apogee of this system. I’ll let the author speak for himself: “Now the situation is changing back. The growing willingness to employ private force and subsequent erosion of the taboo against mercenarism signal a return to the premodern norm of medieval times….” Pg. 6.How did this happen? The book explores the U.S. employment of private security forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Surely this escaped the notice of the Unites State, didn’t it? The book notes: “In a widely distributed memorandum, Secretary of Defense Bob Gates confirms that the number of contractors in war zones ‘well exceeded’ military personnel and added, ‘I do not expect this to change now or in future contingency operations.'” Pg. 22. “The US penchant to lean on the private sector in war has produced the modern mercenary. Half of the country’s military force structure was contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan and, short of conscription, it is unlikely that the superpower could have sustained two multiyear wars without them.” Pg. 25.The book explores the use of private force in the Middle Ages, debunks the concept that the Middle Ages were “dark” and unenlightened as we are today. Unfortunately, perpetual war creates the market for force. The book observes: “…when a policy is politically too riske, outsourcing it to the private sector offers employers a layer of plausible deniability in the event of failure.” Pg. 55.Thus, it becomes “more tempting to go to war”. Id.The author doesn’t believe that all uses of mercenaries are morally repugnant, but he does recognize that the use of private parties to kill raises significant moral issues. The book has examples of these committed both by state actors and mercenaries.Towards the end of the book, he considers some actions that might work to ameliorate some of the more troubling aspects of the growth of mercenarism in the 21st century. As I look more broadly, I see signs that the dominance of the state which prevailed in the 20th century is fading and conditions more common in the Middle Ages seem to be arising. Exxon Mobil is mentioned as a party that used private force in the 20th century. What happens if Facebook, Amazon, Google and others use it in the 21st century. I recommend the book highly. The old becomes new and understanding the old becomes key to understanding the present.

⭐I have the paperback version which shows the publishing year of 2014, as of 2022 the contemporary information contained is outdated and focuses specifically on armed military contractors being deployed by the U.S. and its allies. This book does not cover the development of a hybrid model of warfare as used by Russia with the Wagner Group in Syria, Ukraine, and Africa. This book does not discuss the asymmetrical warfare model used by Iran, and the employment of proxy forces (though not strictly mercenaries) as an extension of the Iranian power sphere in the Middle East. By 2015 the model of armed American contractors patrolling streets in Iraq and Afghanistan was obsolete, or non-existent. There were armed contractors in Afghanistan after 2014, but their roles were limited to Coalition base security and diplomatic site security. Some groups of armed contractors who were training local nationals (ANP, ANSF) were permitted to carry weapons while traveling outside of Coalition bases but this was highly controlled. As a general history of mercenaries, this book provides a long-winded “dawn of time” analysis but does not hold up as a contemporary reference for how mercenary forces are used today.

⭐The author clearly has a wealth of first-hand experience, and he is also knowledgeable about relevant mercenary stories from the distant past. Unfortunately, several of his key points and comparisons are repeated almost verbatim throughout the work. It’s an important book, and McFate’s historical lens is useful, but the poor organization undermines the author’s credibility. His contemporary comparisons also leave many questions unanswered.McFate relies heavily on contrasting his personal experience in Liberia with America’s ongoing problems in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also uses Liberia and Somalia to contrast potential futures for the world with private military. The problem with placing too much weight on these comparisons should be obvious: each country has a different history with unique cultural and political dynamics. However military contractors are used, that’s only one variable in these huge international projects. They are useful as examples and case studies, but it’s easy to overreach when drawing conclusions.We’re not the mercenaries – those guys are the mercenaries. Private military contractors are understandably miffed by the media and outsider tendency to paint the entire industry as “mercenaries.” Early reports about this industry were misleading and sensational. Unfortunately, this book seems to fall into a similar trap. The smaller contractors from other countries are the ones we can freely malign as mercenaries, apparently, even if they are fighting in their own countries.I will recommend this book to friends, especially my friends in international development. While the repetition is frustrating and I question some of the author’s conclusions, McFate does provide a useful historical lens for understanding this important global trend.

⭐There is a key page in this book introducing the concept of neo medievalism, as coined by Hedley Bull. There are five essential tests, which at the end of the Cold War, did not apply but with the advance of technology, overarching institutions like NGO, UN, the breakdown of states often covered by the creation of supra state organisations giving cover to devolving and decentralising state powers and the return of private violence/mercenary armies which is consistent with disengagement of some states eg US from collectives and the assumptions of single state actions.This book should be read in conjunction with McFates Goliath to gain a full oversight.

⭐Well written and researched but not for the faint hearted. McFate skilfully combines first hand experience and academic rigour to reveal a world which, by his own admission, has been poorly researched. The title does it a bit of a disservice as the content provides a useful lens from which to view a number of modern geopolitical trends. It can be a little everygoing at times but this is more to the depth of detail and level of information to absorb than poor writing. The writer has a similar gift to Stieglitz and John Kay in being able to make a complex and often arcane subject accessible.

⭐This is the second book I have bought by this author, he has been around the block and now in the world of the academic. I find his books cover very interesting subject matter really bringing the subject to life and drawing comparisons to illustrate. I bought the second book because even though author in academic world he writes in a very easy to understand way that really gets the message over even on a dry subject without being boring. I am nearly finished this book and ready to look for next option.

⭐A very interested book. I thought this would be explaining more of a day to day business approach to mercenaries but this delves into more of a political science perspective on the use of force outside the monopoly of the state. Very interesting and relevant to current world. I would recommend this book.

⭐This is NOT some adrenaline pumped book of anecdotes. It is however a supremely well-written and researched explanation of what it is that modern mercenaries do. If I had had this book back when I was trying to GM Traveller, it would have been a game changer.

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