When the U.S. deploys its forces around the world, an increasinglyimportant part of its operations is no longer managed by the U.S.military, per se, but rather by what some call contractors, otherscall private military and security companies, and still others callmercenaries. In this essay, I will briefly describe the privatesecurity industry and the larger global market for force that it isa part of and how the U.S. military's increasing reliance on privateforces brings both benefit and risk.