DOI: 10.7256/2454-0617.2020.4.34041

Abstract:   This article is dedicated to examination of the phenomenon of private military companies as a regional actor of security. Leaning on the analysis of international normative legal documents, the authors derive the definition of private military companies due to the fact that neither academic nor applied spheres have precise understanding of this phenomenon. The key research method is the structural and functional analysis, which allows authors considering the object of study from the perspective of various systems of actors. With the increased demand for private military services, private military companies gradually shift from the category of organizations serving military operations to the category of full-fledged independent military organizations that are capable of fulfilling the functions of regular army. For the past two decades, the market for private military services has grown from $ 55 billion to over $200 billion in 2010. The scientific novelty consists in comprehensive overview of various aspects and trends that take place in the market of private military services, as well as in classification of motives and consequences of usage of private military companies in armed missions. The authors discuss the question of international legal status of private military companies, provide practical examples of their activity with the prolonged consequences for regional systems of international relations, analyze the mechanisms of use of these companies in the current context, as well as synthesize the key factors of the increased demand for their services. The absence of regulation of the work of private military companies and ambiguous status of their employees in international law make it virtually impossible to impose international responsibility upon them.  

Keywords: Middle East, international relations, regional subsystems, international law, armed groups, private military companies, Russia, USA, State of Israel, Germany

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0617.2023.4.39632

EDN: PXPVRW

Abstract: As part of the continuation of the study of the moral and ethical aspects of the activities of private military companies, the authors in this work study the internal factors of PMC activities that form their perception by society. The work becomes particularly relevant in the context of the special military operation of the Russian Armed Forces on the territory of Ukraine, where, according to official media reports, private military companies of Russia played a significant role in achieving the goals of the SVO. The rhetoric of the media about PMC fighters on the side of Russia changed to the opposite after the demarche of PMC "Wagner". The focus of this study is made on the causes and patterns in the operational activities of PMC concerning the formation of a staff to the use of various tactics of armed operations, which are the greatest triggers of negative perception. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach that allows to fully explore the directions of the relationship between individual criteria in recruitment, management methods and principles in the activities of PMCs and their representation in the public consciousness. Content analysis of publications in the media and social networks was used as a basis for the study of public perception. The consideration of private military companies from the point of view of their corporate culture is unique. The image of the company is formed by its actions and those who work for it and those for whom they work. The authors establish a system of relationships between these factors and the attitude to these companies on the part of society, systematize the directions of influence of these factors and draw a general and private conclusion about what role they play and how to reduce negative manifestations.

Keywords: international humanitarian law, peace building, security market, public media, public opinion, regional subsystems, the USA, international law, Middle East, Private military and security companies

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0617.2022.1.37617

Abstract: The authors consider in detail the topic of the private military services market as a special system with a limited number of participants and extremely limited effect of market laws. Special attention is paid to the topic of the relationship between the customer and the contractor, as containing a counterintuitive problem - the desire of the contractor to maximize the customer's expenses and delay the implementation of the tasks set. Another contradiction is connected with this problem - the balance of control and efficiency, the study of which is also given in this paper. The authors consider the key features of the private military services market, the actors that operate on it, the mechanisms for regulating the activities of customers and performers, which, in essence, determine the contradictions that arise between them. A special contribution to the study of this problem by the authors is the consideration of Private military companies as an element of the private military services market. The market itself seems to the authors to be a source of key contradictions in the relationship between the principal and the agent in the implementation of military tasks. The authors reveal the system of interaction in the military services market by establishing the main influencing factors of both the external environment and the market's influence on the environment. For the first time, the interaction of the customer-PMCs within the framework of existing contracts is considered in detail, the interests of the parties and the mechanisms for their implementation are systematized. The authors consider two methods of solving already existing contradictions: the method of "strategic privatization" and the method of "deal with Faust". The authors have developed an original method of "controlled competition", which potentially solves a greater number of contractual contradictions.

Keywords: international humanitarian law, Military services market, Israel, modern international relations, closed markets, USA, Germany, international security, international law, private military companies