The Evolving Private Military Sector: A Survey

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to help the US Department of Defense and other government security communities better understand the evolving PM (private military) sector (Avant, 2005; Jager & Kummel, 2007; Singer, 2003). We anticipate our readers will be government agents, members of the international community, or others who wish to make informed decisions regarding the use of PMFs. This report discusses a beginning step in establishing a long-term program of research on the PM sector at NPS. It is expected that knowledge about the sector will be built incrementally through a series of individual studies; no one study will provide a complete picture of the relevant features of the sector. However, we believe a good starting point is to develop quantitative data about the industry, which this report attempts to do. We suggest three reasons why this is an appropriate place to begin.