Sovereignty and Privatizing the Military: An Institutional Explanation

Theorising the use of private military and security companies: a synthetic perspective

“…Nonetheless, prevailing -laissez-faire liberal or stateinterventionist -conceptions of the state and consequently ideas-based predispositions to outsource core policy functions, such as the provision of security, still differ considerably between the US and the UK on the one hand, and France and Germany on the other (Prasad 2006). This is corroborated by indices of economic freedom such as the ones provided by the (Canadian) Economic Freedom Network and the US Heritage Foundation (Gwartney et al 2011 and previous annual reports;Heritage Foundation 2012;Petersohn 2010: 540-1 for a similar argument). In fact, government size indicators from these two indices for the US, the UK, Germany and France largely co-vary (over time and across countries) with the scale and scope of the respective states' use of PMSCs.…”

“…Therefore, reliance on PMSCs in the US and the UK is not an isolated phenomenon but has followed from the increasing influence of neoliberal ideas on defence economics and appropriate modes of security provision, which never took root in a comparable way in continental European states. This evolution is also evidenced by case studies tracing the differential impact of ideologies, norms and ideas on security privatisation in the US, the UK and Germany (Krahmann 2010;Petersohn 2010Petersohn , 2011.…”

“…The issue-area of security is no longer an exception to this trend, as neoliberal market-based modes of governance have diffused not only geographically, but also functionally from economic policy into other policy areas. However, varying laissez-faire liberal and state-interventionist conceptions of the appropriate relationship between the state and the market in the provision of security governance -broadly conceived as a mode of security policy that is not a priori confined to states but may include multiple actors -operate as national filters for the transnational diffusion of neoliberal norms and ideas (Avant 2005: 35;Leander and van Munster 2007;Singer 2008: 66;Deitelhoff 2010: 180-1;Krahmann 2010;Petersohn 2010Petersohn , 2011. PMSCs do not only profit from prevailing neoliberal norms and ideas, they also actively take part in framing and establishing the privatised provision of security as a 'normal' and 'proper' mode of governance.…”

“…At the same time, the causes and conditions for the use of PMSCs are still under-researched and under-theorised in important aspects. To be sure, scholars have mentioned numerous structural conditions and motivating rationales for states' contracting with PMSCs, such as transformations in warfare; the end of the Cold War and ensuing changes in the supply and demand of security; a growing belief in the superior effectiveness of marketbased 'solutions' to public policy problems; the presumed cost-efficiency of outsourcing; and governments' desire to bypass democratic control over the use of force (Avant 2005: 30-38;Binder 2007;Rose´n 2008;Singer 2008: 49-70;Deitelhoff 2010;Krahmann 2010: 21-83;Petersohn 2010Petersohn , 2011.…”

State Functions Outsourcing In The Defence Sphere: Legal Support And Risks

“…In this case, both the real cost of the provided services and their quality are at risk. In addition, although outsourcing is aimed at reducing costs, in reality it may be cheaper to implement tasks that do not require skilled labor, while more complex ones actually become more expensive in the privatization process (Petersohn, 2010). Among the risks, connected with the transfer of inherently https: //doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2020.04.91 Corresponding Author: E. L. Sidorenko Selection and peer-review under governmental functions we should also name the possibility for the contractors of being involved into corruption crimes and related with them (Sukhodolov, Ivantsov, Sidorenko, & Spasennikov, 2018).…”