The Rise of the Private Military and Security Industry

... wide range of state functions, the growth of private military and security companies (PMSCs) was fueled by an emerging international context characterized by a combination... ... themselves vehemently deny; understandably so, since mercenarism is illegal under existing international law. Some observers have supported the view that PMSCs and their personnel... ... like Executive Outcomes in the Angolan civil war during the early 1990’s and Blackwater in Iraq, the term “security company” became dominant among PMSCs...