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The post-fordist military: an inquiry into the political economy of private military comparnies. Author Fulloon, Mark Published 2013 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School School of Humanities DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/3821 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367776 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au THE POST-FORDIST MILITARY: An Inquiry into the Political Economy of Private Military Companies Mark Andrew Fulloon Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Class 1 PhD Candidate Faculty of Arts School of Humanities Griffith University, Nathan Campus Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Date Submitted: 1st March 2011 Why have private military companies become increasingly significant in post-Fordist period particularly since the end of the Cold War? i “It is assumed that men fight for a cause, that they are actuated by a love of home, devotion to the country, or attachment to a sovereign; these are the sentiments that are considered to be hallowed in the pursuit of arms…” (Richard Cobden)1 1 This quote was given during the parliamentary debates of 1854-1856 on the decision whether to send mercenaries to the Crimean War on behalf of the British Empire. See Hansard Parliamentary Debates, 1854-1856, 3rd series edition, Volume CXXXVI, Cornelius Buck, London, Col. 668. ii Preface The rise and dominance of private military companies (PMCs) have become key factors in a number of conflicts since the end of the Cold War. This thesis is concerned about how the growth of PMCs is related to the changing modes of production from Fordism to post-Fordism. The changes in modes of production to post-Fordism highlights PMCs offering various military services in the current neo- classical economic environment, the outsourcing of military services, the privatisation and changing nature of war itself, and how PMCs are regulated in terms of their military operations and business structure. With this in mind, this thesis has researched PMC activity in parts of the world such as Iraq, Sierra Leone, Angola, Colombia, Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to understand the strategic implications of this phenomenon. Furthermore, the thesis addresses various PMCs within the theatre of war, whether intra-state or inter-state and their roles in other military services not directly related to actual warfare but still have an influential impact and strategic influence on the structure of the armed forces. PMCs such as Executive Outcomes, Sandline International, Military Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI), Control Risks Group, Cubic Defence, Erinys, Global Risk, DynCorp, Defence Services Limited (DSL), Blackwater USA, or Vinnell Corporation have played key roles in a variety of wars in the Third World from Afghanistan to Sierra Leone and most of the sub-Saharan African continent to Colombia in their drug wars, to the 2003 United States-led Iraq war. As this thesis will show, PMCs are a product of a series of post-Cold War environments in relation to post-Fordism that have led to a new military security paradigm in terms of the state, conflicts, and most defence forces around the globe. The activities of these PMCs have led scholars such as David Isenberg, Peter W. Singer, Deborah Avant, Anna iii Leander, Carlos Ortiz, Doug Brooks, David Shearer, or William Reno or Rita Abrahamsen to debate about whether or not these companies are a problem and hindrance in relation to state sovereignty, the monopoly on the use of legitimate violence and war, or whether PMCs are achieving results which organisations and countries cannot do, will not do, or are simply unable to. This thesis, therefore, looks at the reasons why PMCs are hired by a range of actors from a post-Fordist perspective such as insurgencies (non-state actors), governments in regions of conflict (Sierra Leone), powerful First World (United States) states in Third World countries such as Afghanistan or Iraq, multilateral peacekeeping organisations (United Nations), humanitarian agencies (World Vision), and multi- national companies in resource extractive industries (British Petroleum). With PMCs becoming influential non-state military actors in Third World conflicts, the relationship between post-Fordism and PMCs highlights these company’s challenges to civil-military relations, the uniqueness of the role of the military, the monopoly over the use and control of legitimate violence, challenges to the nation-state in terms of military forces and military security, the commodification of warfare, and how future wars will be conducted. Each of these situations and principal users of private military companies raises a different set of issues. Yet some common themes do emerge from the use of PMCs. These common themes are concerned with the implications for peace and security, conflict management, the legitimate use of force, human rights, accountability, governance of the military security sector, regulation, and the state. Despite these substantial concerns, there has been relatively little response by the PMC industry and states towards PMCs in terms of national, regional and international regulation and measures. iv To analyse this complex phenomenon of PMCs, this thesis hypothesises that the growth and evolution of private military companies are a result of five important factors: 1. Displacement of a Fordist mass military with a highly skilled specialist core of military personnel, particularly since the end of the Cold War, 2. Changes in modes of production and destruction from Fordist just-in-case to post-Fordist just-in-time, 3. Outsourcing of military government functions that is related to the post- Fordist mode of production within the current global neo-classical economic agenda , 4. The creation of a market army, this has shaped the growth of PMCs in relation to post-Fordist changes in foreign policy, military doctrine, and geo-politics, 5. The changes in the nature of warfare from the Fordist conception of Clausewitz to a post-Fordist standpoint. This thesis does not make specific policy prescriptions, nor is it the place to do so, but rather surveys the environments about PMCs in which policy formulation could take place. It is hoped that this thesis can be used as a reference point for future research from undergraduates to policy makers, including non-government organisations that include academics and experts in related fields to begin to answer some of the critical issues about private military companies. v Contents Acknowledgments viii Acronyms x Statement of Originality xii List of Tables xii Introduction 1 The Research Problem 3 Research Aims and Question 10 Thesis Outline 12 Theoretical Approach 22 Fordism/post-Fordism 23 Research Obstacles and an Appropriate Methodology 31 Review of the Sources 34 Chapter One: Background on Private Military Companies 44 Ancient History 46 Middle Ages (400s-1400s) 48 Renaissance (1400s-1600s) 56 Reformation (1700s-1800s) 60 20th and 21st Century (1900s onwards) 68 Private Military Companies 70 Chapter Two: A Typology of PMCs 84 Combat Offensive PMC 93 Combat Defensive PMC 101 Non-Combat Offensive PMC 106 Non-Combat Defensive PMC 111 Definition of PMC 116 Chapter Three: The Displacement of a Mass Military 123 Displacement of Mass Military 123 PMC Personnel 133 Chapter Four: Structural and Organisational Military Change 143 Organisational Change 143 Just-in-Time Military 146 PMC Industry 153 Chapter Five: Outsourcing 175 Outsourcing 178 PMCs and the Nation-State 183 Monopoly on the Legitimate Use of Violence 185 PMCs and Civil/Military Relations 196 PMCs and Foreign Policy 201 Chapter Six: A Market Army -Peacekeeping, Humanitarian Intervention, and the Issue of Mercenaries 212 Market Army 214 PMCs and Peacekeeping 226 Humanitarian Agencies 235 Mercenaries and PMCs 241 vi Chapter Seven: Changing Nature of Warfare 254 Changing Nature of Warfare: Away from Clausewitz 255 PMCs and Third World Resources 261 PMCs and Insurgencies 274 Chapter Eight: The Regulation of PMCs 292 Mercenary Regulation 295 Regulation, Accountability, Transparency 299 National Regulation 308 US PMC Regulation 309 International Regulation 316 Conclusion 321 Bibliography 329 vii Acknowledgements When I first began researching the role of Private Military Companies within a Political Economic context, I was under no illusions about how difficult and complex a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the subject would be. Writing about private military companies whose activities are frequently shrouded in secrecy and where fiction can be mistaken for fact or fact for fiction was no easy task, nor has the task been made easy by the rapid growth of PMCs in the last few years, particularly since the 2003 Iraq War. Trying to keep abreast of an industry rooted in secrecy and one that is forever changing by the day is an almost impossible task. Annoyingly, errors will have been made, for which I take full responsibility. That said I hope I have done a reasonable effort in producing an overall analytical framework in understanding the PMC industry. Furthermore, it is hoped the thesis goes some way in developing an underlying theory that will help us improve our knowledge of the role private military companies have within global politics. Writing a doctoral dissertation is, I have found, to a large extent, about incurring debts to different people; debts that you are not quite sure you will
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