Money for Mayhem
Mercenaries, Private Military Companies, Drones, and the Future of War
-
- $37.99
-
- $37.99
Publisher Description
Gazes into the crystal ball to forecast what the future of war looks like in a world dominated by private armies.
The way war is waged is evolving quickly—igniting the rapid rise of private military contractors who offer military-style services as part of their core business model. When private actors take up state security, their incentives are not to end war and conflict but to manage the threat only enough to remain relevant. Arduino unpacks the tradeoffs involved when conflict is increasingly waged by professional outfits that thrive on chaos rather than national armies. This book charts the rise of private military actors from Russia, China, and the Middle East using primary source data, in-person interviews, and field research amongst operations in conflict zones around the world. Individual stories narrated by mercenaries, military trainers, security entrepreneurs, hackers, and drone pilots are used to introduce themes throughout. Arduino concludes by considering today’s trajectories in the deployment of mercenaries by states, corporations, or even terrorist organizations and what it will mean for the future of conflict.
The book follows private security contractors that take on missions in different countries with a variety of challenges. First-hand data and intimate knowledge of the actors involved in the market for force allow a fully grounded narrative with personal input. Through this prism, readers will gain a better understanding of the human, security, and political risks that are part of this industry. The book specifically reveals the risk that unaccountable mercenaries pose in increasing the threshold for conflict, the threat to traditional military forces, the corruption in political circles, and the rising threat of proxy conflicts in the US rivalry with China and Russia.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Security consultant Arduino debuts with an exhaustive examination of governments' increasing reliance on mercenaries, arguing that a new "anarchy" is taking hold internationally. "Buying a force for hire is not a guarantee the desired outcomes," Arduino warns, cautioning that mercenaries see both victory and defeat as "the end of business"—and a risk to their lucrative employment. He covers major state players in the mercenary market, including the U.S., China, Russia, and Turkey, and describes the typical uses for mercenaries, including operating as private security contractors, aiding citizens during natural disasters, and maintaining "plausible deniability" in foreign military engagements. Arduino discusses each country's history with mercenaries, assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the available troops, and highlights unique issues such as China's problem with impostors—mercenaries who falsely identify themselves as former Gurkhas or Mossad agents. (Arduino compares their prevalence to the country's similar proliferation of knock-off luxury goods.) He also addresses new developments in warfare, mainly cyberattacks and drone assassinations, that further obfuscate just who is fighting whom, and which are increasingly outsourced to contractors. While the prose is somewhat stilted, the subject matter is disturbing and unusual enough to hold the reader's interest. Readers will be intrigued to learn about this understudied phenomenon.