Contracting out to Private Military and Security Companies

The global trend for contracting out the supply of military and security services is growing. Security is being transformed from a service for the public or common good into a privately provided service. The present paper argues that the implications of outsourcing security services to private agencies are not a priori positive or negative; proper regulation of private military and security services is important. The author recommends that states should determine their ‘inherently governmental functions’ and keep these functions out of the market’s reach.