Jonasova, Jana
The Role of Private Military Companies in Modern Warfare
The central objective of the research is to contribute to the emerging debate on the role of Private Military Companies (PMCs), i.e. business providers of professional services linked to warfare, in the Global War on Terror. Whilst the presence and support of PMCs on battlefields is not new, the extent of their employment to assist the Western forces in Iraq and Afghanistan is unprecedented, representing the second biggest contribution to the Coalition forces in Iraq after the Pentagon.
The focus of the research is to analyse how the cooperation of the military and its civil partners (PMCs) work in practise and point out the strengths and weaknesses of the relationship in order to highlight some lessons learned that will be valuable for potential future scenarios.
As the conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan have not yet concluded, there is still significant scope for unexpected developments and the extensive reliance of the Western forces on PMCs will most certainly continue playing an important role in the further progress in the region. And it is the ambition of this project to clarify how the outsourcing of military support functions influences the achievements of political and military goals that the Western Coalition pursues there.
Research Supervisors
Professor Wyn Rees and Dr Andrew Mumford.
Primary Funding Source
Self-funded.
Research Centre(s) to which affiliated
Centre for Conflict, Security and Terrorism (CST).
Research Interests
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Vietnam Syndrome in US Foreign Policy
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Private Military and Security Companies
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Humanitarian Intervention
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Child Soldiers.