Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military
Industry. By P. W. Singer. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press,
2003. 368p. $39.95.
Peter Singer has produced a highly commendable volume for the Cornell
Studies in Security Affairs series on an area of study that has
received relatively little attention within the academic world. Much of
the existing literature focuses on the mercenary end of private
military companies (PMCs) and ignores the breadth of the industry.
Similarly, the debate on transformation has tended to focus on
technology and changing approaches to the conduct of war; relatively
little has concerned itself with the increasing role of the privatized
military companies, yet, as Singer points out, 1 in 10 of those
deployed by the United States in the most recent war in Iraq was a
contractor. It is not just the scale of the industry at present (one
estimate puts it at $100 billion per year) that makes it an important
area for study. It is also that this industry covers the full spectrum
of defense activities. It ranges from service provision at home to the
provision of combat services and military units. This will become even
more so as we move away from the linear battlefield and the idea of a
front line melts away. Moreover, this is not just a Third World issue;
virtually every state uses elements of the industry, with the United
States being the largest user.