The paradoxical impunity of private military companies: Authority and the limits to legal accountability

Security Dialogue

Volumn 41, Issue 5, 2010, Pages 467-490

  Leander, A ^a  

^a Department of International Economics and Management   (Denmark)

Author keywords

accountability; critical security; private authority; private security companies; security assemblages; security governance

Indexed keywords

EID: 77958512376     PISSN: 09670106     EISSN: 14603640     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0967010610382108     Document Type: Article

References (103)

1. Arendt, HA.h, 1958. What Is Authority? London: Faber & Faber.
2. Bailes, Alison & Caroline Holmqvist, 2007. 'The Increasing Role of Private Military and Security Companies'. Brussels: European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence.
3. Bartlett, Devlin, 2010. 'US Sues Contractor KBR Over Iraq Bills', AFP, 1 April.
4. Bauman, Zygmunt, 1989. Modernity and the Holocaust. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
5. Bauman, Zygmunt, 1997. Postmodernity and Its Discontents. Cambridge: Polity.
6. Bauman, Zygmunt, 2009. Liquid Times: Living in an Age of Uncertainty. Oxford: Polity.
7. Beck, Ulrich, 1992. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage.
8. Benjamin, Walter, 1920/21. 'Zur Kritik der Gewalt' [Contribution to a Critique of Violence], Archiv fæ1/4r Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik 47: 809-832.
9. Blum, Justin, 2010. 'KBR Improperly Used Armed Guards in Iraq, U.S. Says', Businessweek, 1 April.
10. Boltanski, Luc, 2009. De la Critique [On Criticism]. Paris: Gallimard.
11. Born, Hans & Heiner Hæ{currency sign}nggi, eds, 2004. The 'Double Democratic Deficit'. Geneva: Ashgate/Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).
12. Bourdieu, Pierre, 1991. Language and Symbolic Power. Oxford: Polity.
13. Bourdieu, Pierre, 2002. Practical Reason. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
14. Bourdieu, Pierre & Loic J.-D. Wacquant, 1992. Ræ©ponses [Responses]. Paris: Seuil.
15. Broder, John M., 2007. 'State Dept. Plans Tighter Control of Security Firm', New York Times, 6 October.
16. Brodsky, Robert, 2010a. 'Contractors Will Play a Vital Role in the Troop Build-Up in Afghanistan, But Have Agencies Learned Their Lesson from Iraq?', Government Executive, 1 March; available athttp://www.govexec.com/features/0310-01/0310-01s3.htm (accessed 28 July 2010).
17. Brodsky, Robert, 2010b. 'Defense Policy Bill Could Affect Insourcing Efforts' Government Executive, 21 June; available atwww.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=45535 (accessed 28 July 2010).
18. Brooks, Doug, 2000. 'Messiahs or Mercenaries? The Future of International Private Military Services', International Peacekeeping 7(4): 129-144.
19. Buzan, Barry; Ole Wæver & Jaap de Wilde, 1998. Security: A New Framework for Analysis. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
20. Capaccio, Tony, 2010. 'KBR To Get No-Bid Army Work as U.S. Alleges Kickbacks', Businessweek, 6 May.
21. Carney, Heather, 2006. 'Prosecuting the Lawless: Human Rights Abuses and Private Military Firms', The George Washington Law Review 74(2): 317-342.
22. Chatterjee, Pratap, 2009. Halliburton's Army: How A Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War. New York: Nation.
23. Clark, Ian, 2005. Legitimacy in International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
24. Cole, August, 2007. 'Blackwater Assailed on Tax Policy', Washington Post, 3 December.
25. Cole, August, 2008. 'Blackwater Plans Effort Against Piracy', Wall Street Journal, 3 December.
26. Cole, August, 2009. 'Blackwater Puts on a New Public Face', Washington Post, 14 February.
27. Coleman, James R., 2004. 'Constraining Modern Mercenarism', Hastings Law Journal 55(June): 1493-1537.
28. Cooling, Benjamin Franklin, 1977. War, Business, and American Society: Historical Perspectives on the Military-Industrial Complex. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press.
29. Der Spiegel, 2009. 'Blackwater Accused of Creating Killing Program', 22 August.
30. Dickinson, Laura A., 2005. 'Government for Hire: Privatizing Foreign Affairs and the Problem of Accountability Under International Law', William & Mary Law Review 47(1): 135-237.
31. Didion, Joan, 2006. 'Cheney: The Fatal Touch', New York Review of Books 53(15): 35-43.
32. Fainaru, Steve, 2008. Big Boy Rules: In the Company of America's Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq. Cambridge: Da Capo Press.
33. Fierke, Karin, 2007. Critical Approaches to International Security. Oxford: Polity.
34. Fischer-Lescano, Andreas & Gunther Teubner, 2004. 'Regime-Collisions: The Vain Search for Legal Unity in the Fragmentation of Global Law', Michigan Journal of International Law 25(4): 999-1045.
35. Flathman, Richard E., 1980. The Practice of Political Authority: Authority and the Authoritative. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.
36. Fletcher, Martin, 2008. 'The Old Etonian, the Dogs of War and the Trial over a Failed Coup', The Times, 17 June.
37. Foessel, Michaæ«l, 2006. 'Legitimations of the State: The Weakening of Authority and the Restoration of Power ', Constellations 13(3): 308-319.
38. Foucault, Michel, 1975. Surveiller et Punier [Surveillance and Punishment]. Paris: Gallimard.
39. Gansler, Jacques, 2010. 'The Global War on Contractors Must Stop', ExecutiveBiz, 15 January; available athttp://blog.executivebiz.com/jacques-gansler-global-war-on-contractors-must-stop/7105/ (accessed 19 July 2010).
40. Government Accountability Office (GAO), 2005. Actions Needed To Improve Use of Private Security Providers, Report GAO-05-737. Washington, DC: GAO.
41. Government Accountability Office (GAO), 2010. Continued Actions Needed by DOD To Improve and Institutionalize Contractor Support in Contingency Operations, Report GAO-10-551T. Washington, DC: GAO.
42. Guzzini, Stefano, 1993. 'Structural Power: The Limits of Neorealist Power Analysis', International Organization 47(3): 443-478.
43. Haggerty, Kevin D. & Richard V. Ericson, 2000. 'The Surveillant Assemblage', British Journal of Sociology 51(4): 605-622.
44. Hall, Rodney Bruce & Thomas J. Bierstecker, 2002. 'The Emergence of Private Authority in the International System', in Rodney Bruce Hall & Thomas J. Bierstecker, eds, The Emergence of Private Authority in Global Governance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (3-23).
45. Hansen, Hans Krause & Dorte Salskov-Iversen, eds, 2008. Critical Perspectives on Private Authority in Global Politics. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
46. Harris, Jerry, 2005. 'The Military Industrial Complex in Transnational Class Theory', in Richard P. Appelbaum & William I. Robinson, eds, Critical Globalization Studies. London & New York: Routledge (141-154).
47. Hodge, Nathan, 2005. 'Blackwater CEO Touts Private Peacekeeping Model', Defense Daily, 23 February.
48. Holsti, Kalevi J., 2004. Taming the Sovereigns: Institutional Change in International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
49. Houppert, Karen, 2008. 'Another KBR Rape Case', The Nation, 8 April.
50. Human Rights First, 2008. 'Private Security Contractors at War: Ending the Culture of Impunity'. New York & Washington, DC: Human Rights First; available athttp://www.humanrightsfirst.info/pdf/08115-usls-psc-final.pdf (accessed 19 July 2010).
51. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 2008. 'Montreux Document on Pertinent International Legal Obligations and Good Practices for States Related to Operations of Private Military and Security Companies During Armed Conflict'; available atwww.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/montreux-document-170908 (accessed 30 June 2010).
52. Isenberg, David, 2008. Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq. New York: Praeger.
53. Kaldor, Mary, 1998. 'Introduction', in Mary Kaldor & Basker Vashee, eds, Restructuring the Global Military Sector: New Wars. London: Pinter (3-33).
54. Keohane, Robert O., 2003. 'The Concept of Accountability in World Politics and the Use of Force', Michigan Journal of International Law 24(Summer): 1121-1141.
55. Kierpaul, Ian, 2008. 'The Rush To Bring Private Military Contractors to Justice: The Mad Scramble of Congress, Lawyers, and Law Students After Abu Ghraib', The University of Toledo Law Review 39(2): 407-435.
56. King, Neil, Jr. & August Cole, 2007. 'Few Alternatives to Blackwater ', Wall Street Journal, 17 October.
57. Krahmann, Elke, 2007. 'Security: Collective Good or Commodity?', European Journal of International Relations 14(3): 379-405.
58. Krieger, Leonard, 1977. 'The Idea of Authority in the West', American Historical Review 82(2): 249-270.
59. Lam, Jenny S., 2009. 'Comment: Accountability for Private Military Contractors Under the Alien Tort Statute', California Law Review 97(October): 1459-1498.
60. Leander, A., 2005. 'The Power To Construct International Security: On the Significance of Private Military Companies', Millennium 33(3): 803-826.
61. Leander, A., 2006. Eroding State Authority? Private Military Companies and the Legitimate Use of Force. Rome: Centro Militare di Studi Strategici.
62. Leander, A., 2007. 'Regulating the Role of PMCs in Shaping Security and Politics', in Simon Chesterman & Chia Lehnardt, eds, From Mercenaries to Markets: The Rise and Regulation of Private Military Companies. Oxford: Oxford University Press (49-64).
63. Leander, A., 2008. 'Thinking Tools', in Audie Klotz & Prakash Depaak, eds, Qualitative Methods in International Relations: A Pluralist Guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave McMillan (11-28).
64. Leander, A., 2010a. 'Commercial Security Practices', in Peter J. Burgess, ed., Handbook of New Security Studies. London & New York: Routledge (208-216).
65. Leander, A., 2010b. 'Practices (Re)Producing Orders: Understanding the Role of Business in Global Security Governance', in Morten Ougaard & A. Leander, eds, Business and Global Governance: Business in Global Governance. London: Routledge (57-78).
66. Lukes, Steven, 2005. Power. Basingstoke & New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
67. Markusen, Ann R., 2003. 'The Case Against Privatizing National Security', Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions 16(4): 471-501.
68. Martin, Jennifer S., 2007. 'Contracting for Wartime Actors: The Limits of the Contract Paradigm', New England Journal of International and Comparative Law 14(Fall): 11-33.
69. Michaels, Jon D., 2004. 'Beyond Accountability: The Constitutional, Democratic and Strategic Problems with Privatizing War', Washington University Law Quarterly 82(3): 1003-1048.
70. Miller, Christian T., 2006. Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq. New York: Little, Longman & Brown.
71. Minow, Martha, 2003. 'Public and Private Partnerships: Accounting for the New Religion', Harvard Law Review 116(March): 1229-1270.
72. New York Times, 2008. 'Blackwater 's Impunity', 16 May.
73. Olsen, Lise, 2009. 'Sick Workers, Guardsmen Blame KBR', Houston Chronicle, 15 February.
74. OMB Watch, 2010. 'OMB Watch Partners with CREDO Action To Stop Reckless Outsourcing'. Washington, DC: OMB Watch; available athttp://www.ombwatch.org/node/10998 (accessed 27 June 2010).
75. Ortiz, Carlos, 2010. 'The New Public Management of Security: The Contracting and Managerial State and the Private Military Industry', Public Money & Management 30(1): 35-41.
76. Patterson, Malcolm, 2008. 'A Corporate Alternative to United Nations Ad Hoc Military Deployments', Journal of Conflict & Security Law 13(2): 215-232.
77. Percy, Sarah, 2007. 'Mercenaries: Strong Norm, Weak Law', International Organization 61(2): 367-397.
78. Rasor, Dina & Robert Bauman, 2007. Betraying Our Troops: The Destructive Results of Privatizing War. New York: Palgrave.
79. Ratnam, Gopal & Timothy R. Homan, 2010. 'Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Plans Sale of Security Company', Businessweek, 7 June.
80. Raz, Joseph, 1990. 'Introduction', in Joseph Raz, ed., Authority. Oxford: Basil Blackwell (1-19).
81. Rice, Xan, 2010. 'Congo Renews Death Sentence on Norwegian Mercenaries', The Guardian, 10 June.
82. Sapone, Montgomery, 1999. 'I Have Rifle with Scope, Will Travel: The Global Economy of Mercenary Violence', California Western International Law Journal 30(Fall): 1-43.
83. Scahill, Jeremy, 2007. Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Washington, DC: Nation.
84. Scahill, Jeremy, 2008a. 'Blackwater 's Bright Future', Los Angeles Times, 16 June.
85. Scahill, Jeremy, 2008b. 'Obama's Mercenary Position', The Nation, 17 March.
86. Schakowsky, Jan, 2008. 'Stop Outsourcing Security, or SOS, Act, HR4102'; available athttp://www.janschakowsky.org/SchaBLOGsky/tabid/36/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/476/StopOutsourcingSecurity.aspx (accessed 5 May).
87. Schatzki, Theodore R., 1997. 'Practices and Actions: A Wittgensteinian Critique of Bourdieu and Giddens', Philosophy of the Social Sciences 27(3): 283-308.
88. Shearer, David, 1998. 'Private Military Force and Challenges for the Future', Cambridge Review of International Affairs 13(1): 80-94.
89. Singer, Peter W., 2003. Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry. Ithaca, NY & London: Cornell University Press.
90. Singer, Peter W., 2007a. 'Can't Win with 'Em, Can't Go to War Without 'Em: Private Military Contractors and Counterinsurgency', Foreign Policy at Brookings, Policy Papers no. 4. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution; available athttp://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/0927militarycontractors/0927militarycontractors.pdf (accessed 19 July 2010).
91. Singer, Peter W., 2007b. 'The Law Catches Up to Private Militaries (and Embeds Too)', DefenseTech, 4 January.
92. Singer, Peter W., 2010. 'Double-Hatting Around the Law: The Problem with Morphing Warrior, Spy and Civilian Roles', Armed Forces Journal, 1 June; available atwww.brookings.edu/opinions/2010/0601_military_roles_singer.aspx (accessed 28 July 2010).
93. Stein, Jeff, 2010. 'CIA Hires Xe, Formerly Blackwater, To Guard Facilities in Afghanistan and Elsewhere', Washington Post, 24 June.
94. Swarns, Rachel L., 2009. 'Cheney Offers Sharp Defense of CIA Interrogation Tactics', New York Times, 31 August.
95. The Washington Post (2010) 'Top Secret America: A Washington Post Investigation', available athttp://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/.
96. Thomson, Janice, 1994. Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns: State-Building and Extraterritorial Violence in Early Modern Europe. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
97. Tiefer, Charles, 2007. 'The Iraq Debacle: The Rise and Fall of Procurement-Aided Unilateralism as a Paradigm of Foreign War', University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law 29(Fall): 1-56.
98. Verkuil, Paul, 2007. Outsourcing Sovereignty: Why Privatization of Government Functions Threatens Democracy and What We Can Do About It. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
99. Weber, Max, 1978. Economy and Society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
100. Weigelt, Matthew, 2010a. 'Obama Official Hits Campaign Trail To Sell Insourcing', Washington Technology, 12 June.
101. Weigelt, Matthew, 2010b. 'What Exactly Is an Inherently Governmental Function?', Federal Computer Week, 18 June; available athttp://fcw.com/articles/2010/06/18/what-exactly-is-inherently-governmental-function.aspx (accessed 19 July 2010).
102. Yankunis, Tonya, 2008. 'Military Strategists Are from Mars, Rule of Law Theorists Are from Venus', Military Law Review 197(Fall): 16-102.
103. Zedner, Lucia, 2006. 'Liquid Security: Managing the Market for Crime Control', Criminology and Criminal Justice 6(3): 267-288.