Private Security and Identity Politics: Ethical Hero Warriors, Professional Managers and New Humanitarians

145 Pages·2019·0.947 MB·English

by  Jutta Joachim, Andrea Schneiker

Private Security and Identity Politics
This book examines the self-representation and identity politics of Private Military
and Security Companies (PMSCs).
PMSCs have become increasingly important over the past few decades. While
their boom is frequently explained in functional terms, such as their cost-efficiency
and effectiveness, this book offers an alternative explanation based on an analysis
of the online self-presentations of forty-two US- and UK-based companies. PMSCs
are shaping how they are perceived and establishing themselves as acceptable and
legitimate security actors by eclectically appropriating identities more commonly
associated with the military, businesses and humanitarian actors. Depending
on their audience and clients’ needs, they can be professional hero warriors, or
promise turnkey security solutions based on their exceptional expertise, or, in a
similar way to humanitarians, reassure those in need of relief and try to make the
world a better place. Rather than being merely public relations, the self-referential
assertions of PMSCs are political. Not only do they contribute to a normalization
of private security and reinforce an already ongoing blurring of lines between the
public and private sectors, they also change what we deem to be ‘security’ and a
‘security actor’.
This book will be of much interest to students of private military companies,
critical security studies, military studies, security studies and IR.
Jutta Joachim is Senior Lecturer of International Relations at Radboud University,
the Netherlands. She is the author of Agenda Setting, the UN, and NGOs (2007)
and co-editor of International Organizations and Implementation (Routledge
2007) and Transnational Activism in the UN and the EU (Routledge 2008).
Andrea Schneiker is Professor of Political Science at the University of Siegen,
Germany. She is the author of Humanitarian NGOs, (In)Security and Identity
(Routledge 2015) and co-editor of Researching Non-State Actors in International
Security (Routledge 2017).
Routledge Private Security Studies
Series Editors: Anna Leander Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
and Elke Krahmann University of Kiel, Germany
Private Security and Identity Politics
Ethical Hero Warriors, Professional Managers and New Humanitarians
Jutta Joachim and Andrea Schneiker
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-
Private-Security-Studies/book-series/RPSS
Private Security and
Identity Politics
Ethical Hero Warriors, Professional
Managers and New Humanitarians
Jutta Joachim and Andrea Schneiker
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Jutta Joachim and Andrea Schneiker
The right of Jutta Joachim and Andrea Schneiker to be identified as authors
of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested.
ISBN: 978-1-138-19573-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-63761-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Contents
List of abbreviations vi
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
1 Identities, identity politics, and PMSCs 13
2 Professional hero warriors 45
3 Security experts and business managers 71
4 Do-gooders and humanitarians 96
5 From mercenary to hero warrior, security professional, and
humanitarian: summary and discussion of findings 116
Index 131
Abbreviations
ACS Approved Contractors Scheme
ANSI American National Standards Institute
BAPSC British Association of Private Security Companies
CARE Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere
CEO Chief Executive Officer
CRS Catholic Relief Services
DCAA Defense Contract Audit Agency
EO Executive Outcomes
EODT EOD Technology
EU European Union
IAA international aid agency
ICoC International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers
ICoCA International Code of Conduct Association
ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross
IGO international governmental organization
ILM Institute for Learning Management
IPOA International Peace Operations Association
IR international relations
ISOA International Stability Operations Association
JIPO Journal of International Peace Operations
MCA Maritime and Coastguard Agency
MSF Médecins Sans Frontières
MST mobile security team
NGO non-governmental organization
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OSSI Overseas Security & Strategic Information
OXFAM Oxford Committee for Famine Relief
PAE Pacific Architects and Engineers
PGI Patriot Group International
PMC private military company
PMSC private military and security company
PRT Provincial Reconstruction Team
PTSD post-traumatic stress disorder
Abbreviations vii
QRF quick reaction force
SAS Special Air Service
SCEG Security in Complex Environments Group
SME subject matter expert
SOSi SOS International
SWAT Special Weapons and Tactics
TSI Tactical Solutions International
UK United Kingdom
UN United Nations
US United States
VENRO Verband Entwicklungspolitik und Humanitäre Hilfe deutscher
Nichtregierungsorganisationen (umbrella organisation of develop-
ment and humanitarian aid non-governmental organisations [NGOs]
in Germany)
Acknowledgements
The idea for this book grew out of several fruitful and inspiring discussions
between us and with scholars as well as students over the last nine years on how
to study private military and security companies. There are many individuals who
commented on papers we presented at conferences and articles that formed the
basis of this book and whom we would like to thank, including amongst others,
Tobias Auberger, Joakim Berndtsson, Kathrin Braun, Dennis Dijkzeul, Andreas
Fischer-Lescano, Bastien Irondelle, Elke Krahmann, Anna Leander, Peter Mayer,
Lisa Prügl, and Anna van der Vleuten. We also gratefully acknowledge the finan-
cial support of the Swedish Research Council that supported parts of our book
project through the international collaborative research project ‘Militarization
2.0: Militarization’s social media footprint through a gendered lens’, and we
would like to thank our colleagues Susan Jackson, Nicholas Robinson, Marlen
Martin, and Magnus Dau, who regularly provided feedback on our work over
the course of this project. We owe special thanks to our colleague and friend
Bertjan Verbeek who encouraged us to move forward with the project and write
an identity-based analysis of these companies, as well as Hannah Ferguson of
Routledge Press who accompanied us along the way. Our greatest thanks, how-
ever, go to all the research assistants who have supported this project over the
last years and without whose commitment we would not have been able to write
this book: Natalia Dalmer, Henriette Lange, Jakob Wiedekind, Lewin Schmidt,
Stefanie Schmidt, Tobias Verter, and Alexandra Weber. We hope that those who
read this book will find it inspiring and that our analysis will provide ground for
further academic debate on the privatization of security.
Jutta Joachim and Andrea Schneiker
Nijmegen/Siegen
Introduction
Private military and security companies (PMSCs) exhibit different faces. They
are neither mercenaries fighting solely for profit (as they are often characterized
in the media) nor conventional business corporations merely selling their services
to clients. As we will argue in this book, PMSCs can have multiple identities:
They can be ethical hero warriors, professional experts, and managers, but also
do-gooders. In addition to offering their clients peace of mind, they promise turn-
key solutions to pressing security problems and claim to improve overall political
and economic structures and, in so doing, make the world a better place. This is
exemplified by the following statements taken from homepages of two PMSCs.
Tactical Solutions International (TSI), for example,
provides a variety of security services through our Mobile Security Teams
(MSTs). These teams [consist] of former operators primarily from the ranks
of the US Special Operations and intelligence communities, all of [whom]
are equipped and experienced to meet any need. These needs could include:
Armed Convoy Escort, Personal Protective Services, Site or Facility Security,
Protective Intelligence, Asset Recovery or Special Tasks. TSI’s MSTs are
prepared to deploy and conduct a variety of operations around the globe with
little notice in support of US national security objectives, corporate require-
ments, private business or foreign interests.
(Tactical Solutions International 2017)
Operating globally, Blue Hackle stresses that it
has considerable strength and experience protecting personnel and assets
for Non-profits/NGOs [non-governmental organizations]. We are currently
providing this service globally and know the major challenges that affect
relief, aid, and social services agencies. Our integrated delivery of outreach,
engagement, and security will enable you to operate successfully in fractured
and traumatized societies. We are committed to protect the lives of not only
your personnel, but the lives of displaced families and refugees at risk in
the highly contentious environments where you work. Our attentiveness and
flexibility in adapting to rapidly changing conditions will ensure that aid is