Overview

At peak utilization, private security contractors (PSCs) constituted a larger occupying force in Iraq and Afghanistan than did U.S. troops. Yet, no book has so far assessed the impact of private security companies on military effectiveness. Filling that gap, Molly Dunigan reveals how the increasing tendency to outsource missions to PSCs has significant ramifications for both tactical and long-term strategic military effectiveness—and for the likelihood that the democracies that deploy PSCs will be victorious in warfare, both over the short- and long-term. She highlights some of the ongoing problems with deploying large numbers of private security contractors alongside the military, specifically identifying the deployment scenarios involving PSCs that are most likely to have either positive or negative implications for military effectiveness. She then provides detailed recommendations to alleviate these problems. Given the likelihood that the U.S. will continue to use PSCs in future contingencies, this book has real implications for the future of U.S. military and foreign policy.

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9780804774581

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Reviews

Victory for Hire provides an invaluable look into both the pernicious effects and the operational advantages that private security forces provide governments. A must read for those interested in security policy and the study of interstate war. --Allan C. Stam, Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan

[Dunigan's] examples, analyses, and conclusions will be valuable for military leaders who work with security contractors, to citizens concerned about security contractor use, and to policy makers who decide whether to use them. --Major Herman Reinhold, Military Review

Author Information

Molly Dunigan is an Associate Political Scientist in the International Security Policy Group at the RAND Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was a lead author on the 2010 RAND Corporation monograph Hired Guns: Views About Armed Contractors in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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