Private Military Companies and the Construction of American Foreign Policy

Abstract

This research addresses the rise of private military companies (PMCs) in the post-Cold War and especially their role in U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the Afghanistan and Iraq, conflicts where these transnational actors gained greater international relevance. The main objective of this project is to situate these corporate entities in the contemporary discussions of international relations, discussing its role, its influence and its consequences for the international security studies It is argued as a central thesis that the privatization of force inserts market dynamics in foreign policy decision-making process, creating conflicts of interest in security institutions. This conflicting relationship has existed since the U.S. military-industrial complex, but it emerges in a peculiar way due to the reconstruction of the security paradigm in the post-Cold War era when the private sector stops being only a supplier of war material to become the provider of military services before reserved to the military sphere. Due to their increasing role and penetration, the analysis of these enterprises constitutes part of the understanding of American foreign policy on security.