Outsourcing The Global War On Terrorism

Outsourcing the Global War on Terrorism explores how the United States' war on terrorism, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, has required the US military to employ thousands of contracted civilians working for US and foreign Private Military and Private Security Companies (PMSCs). The actions and operations of unsupervised PMSCs has created an environment that had the potential to not only negatively influence tactical US objectives, but could also harm strategic local capacity-building initiatives.

Given the military and political importance of US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, George C. Lovewine provides a much-needed analysis of the interaction between commercial entities, military operations, and policy objectives. Lovewine's analyses identify the reactions and policy responses to these security issues faced by the United States military today.

Review: Lovewine combines an insider's perspective on the use of Private Military Companies in Department of Defense contingency operations with rigorous research. Exploring the involvement of contractors from Iraq to Afghanistan and from intelligence collection to security services, Outsourcing the Global War on Terrorism shows why Private Military Companies have a major impact on the success or failure of US military operations and policies. -Elke Krahmann, Professor of Security Studies, Brunel University-London, UK With the privatization genie out of the bottle, Lovewine's sober analysis leads to an important, yet troubling, question: Have corporations and the US government changed their ways following operations in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Lovewine's book is a must read for those concerned about the efficacy of US military force in the twenty-first century. -Dr. Christopher Spearin, Canadian Forces College/Royal Military College of Canada Lovewine has given us a long overdue, vitally needed, corrective to the party line long spouted by private military and security contractor advocates that they are the most cost-effective enabler that the military has at its disposal.

Thanks to his research we now have compelling evidence that there are very real and substantial costs to using PMSCs. His book is a must read for anyone seriously interested in PMSC issues. -David Isenberg, Senior Analyst, Wikistrat, USA and author, Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq 'This document provides a useful source of information on the now extensive literature on the US government's use of contractors to support deployed military forces and diplomats It synthesizes chunks of this literature to describe the roles and behavior of specific companies offering the full range of services that the US government has used to support its deployed military forces and diplomats.'-Frank Camm, PhD, Senior Economist, RAND Corporation, USA