Private military companies and humanitarians : how can legitimacy be obtained for private military companies in contemporary security politics?

Abstract

This thesis aims to discuss how legitimacy can be obtained for Private Military Companies in security environment of the post-Cold War era, with particular emphasis on the relation to the humanitarian sector. As such the thesis will start out with an introduction of the structural changes in security politics in the latest 15 years, discussing reasons for PMC proliferation and challenges the industry faces regarding legitimacy.

The humanitarian sector is currently facing up to the realities of complex humanitarian and political crises, in which aid workers increasingly need robust security options to be able to continue their work in alleviating human suffering. This thesis argue that though the legal circumstances of the relief and development sector and private military industry are interchangeably the same, there is a marked difference in perceived legitimacy between the two. The main question posed here is hence how PMCs can be made more legitimate for a market which is in need of qualified security options, but in which the actors need to maintain their position as legitimate.