عنوان

Opening Pandora's Box? :

Number

TLets690740

Title Proper

Opening Pandora's Box? :

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Street, Daniel

Title Proper by Another Author

theorising the commercialisation of military force in the post-Cold War world

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

Hyde-Price, Adrian ; Durodie, William

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

University of Bath

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2016

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Thesis (Ph.D.)

Text preceding or following the note

2016

Text of Note

The commercialisation of military services has increased in importance since the end of the Cold War. Commercial Military Service Providers (CMSPs) have found increased respectability and worked in states on every continent. Writing on CMSPs has similarly increased. Several high profile incidents have come under intense scrutiny, and has led to some portions of the literature demonising their use. However, there are still conceptual and theoretical issues which have been under explored. This thesis contributes to the literature which has sought to address this theoretical lacuna. Historical Sociology and comparative analysis are employed to analyse the implications of CMSP use on the state. A modified version of the Ideological, Economic, Military and Political (IEMP) model developed by Michael Mann, is used to theorise the impact of commercial security providers on existing sources of power within the state, and the relationship between them. The thesis uses two case studies which are representative of the use of CMSPs during this time period. The Sierra Leone Civil War and the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq since 2003. It will be argued that CMSPs alter the balance between power structures within the state, positively and negatively affecting the power of the state. The short term use of CMSPs has proven to be useful and of increasing importance; especially when military weakness is an urgent problem. However, although there has been no example of CMSPs intentionally threatening state stability, they can also subvert the power of the state. CMSPs, particularly when used for an extended period, have undermined the relationship between the sources of power, undermining political stability. Most significantly they weakened the state by undermining the strength it gains from its embeddedness in society.

Private Military Companies ; PMCs ; Private Security ; Iraq ; Sierra Leone ; Historical Sociology ; Michael Mann ; Barry Buzan ; The State

Street, Daniel

Hyde-Price, Adrian ; Durodie, William

University of Bath

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y