Outsourcing Public Security

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War, there has been an exponential growth in the use of private military and security companies. Few have debated the long-term consequences outsourcing of security holds for the military profession. The first section of this article outlines the evolution of military outsourcing. From here the focus shifts to how outsourcing affects the armed forces’ ability to retain the monopoly over their “own” knowledge and skills base, and how it affects their autonomy, corporateness, and service ethic. The implications that this has for the armed forces and the military profession are deliberated. The conclusion is reached that extensive growth and use of private security have affected the intellectual and moral hegemony of the armed forces as providers of public security. The long-term implications of this in terms of the social structure and the identity of the military profession are not yet fully realized.