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Since you left: United Nations peace support, private military and security companies, and Canada
Abstract
In the late 1990s when Canada was largely removing itself from United Nations peace support endeavours, private military and security companies were heralded as likely replacements. Canada has indicated its desire to reengage in a United Nations peace support milieu in which there is now a private military and security presence. It is not the type of presence initially envisioned, but it is one with multiple impacts regarding training and operations. This article emphasizes the interventions in the first decade of the twenty-first century and the corresponding, defensively minded regulations that came about in the private military and security industry. The article reveals that commercial logics are now insinuated in United Nations peace support operations and the private military and security presence therein is indicative of a larger shift in United Nations activities towards insularity and protection.
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In 2012, the United Nations approved new Guidelines on the Use of Armed Private Security Companies by its agencies, funds and programmes. The Guidelines hold the potential to not only enhance the quality of armed security services contracted by the un, but also raise professional standards within the military and security industry more generally by serving as a model for other consumers and companies. Nevertheless, a close reading of the Guidelines indicates that there is still room for improvements. Drawing on best practices identified by industry associations, major clients and academic research, this article makes six recommendations for revision. Specifically, the article contends that expanding the scope, content and enforcement of the Guidelines would contribute to strengthening the control over private security contractors.
The state monopoly on the legitimate use of violence in Europe and North America has been central to the development of security as a collective good. Not only has it institutionalized the state as the prime national and international security provider, it has helped to reduce the threat from other actors by either prohibiting or limiting their use of violence. The recent growth of the private security industry appears to undermine this view. Not only are private security firms proliferating at the national level; private military companies are also taking over an increasing range of military functions in both national defence and international interventions. This article seeks to provide an examination of the theoretical and practical implications of the shift from states to markets in the provision of security. Specifically, it discusses how the conceptualization of security as a commodity rather than a collective good affects the meaning and implementation of security in Western democracies.
The UN Security Council meeting on 18 September 2014 represented a major turning-point in the international response to the Ebola outbreak then underway in West Africa. However, in the light of widespread criticism over the tardiness of the international response, it can be argued that the UN, and particularly the Security Council, failed to make best use of a potential resource it already had on the ground in Liberia: the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). This article examines whether UNMIL could have done more to contribute to the emergency response and attempts to draw some lessons from this experience for potential peacekeeper involvement in future public health emergencies. UNMIL could have done more than it did within the terms of its mandate, although it may well have been hampered by factors such as its own capacities, the views of Troop Contributing Countries and the approach taken by the Liberian government. This case can inform broader discussions over the provision of medical and other forms of humanitarian assistance by peacekeeping missions, such as the danger of politicising humanitarian aid and peacekeepers doing more harm than good. Finally, we warn that a reliance on peacekeepers to deliver health services during ‘normal’ times could foster a dangerous culture of dependency, hampering emergency responses if the need arises.
This is the outcome of a training-oriented research and research-oriented training project, in collaboration with a wide range of individuals from the main types of humanitarian organisations (UN, Red Cross movement, NGOs, think-tanks). Its primary target audience are field-level aid agency managers responsible for security of staff and assets, for whom the GPR should serve as a practical reference tool. It offers a systematic step-by-step approach to security management starting from context analysis and threat and risk assessment, to security strategy choice and security planning. It reviews major types of threats (battlefield survival, vehicle safety, site security, sexual assault, abduction and kidnapping, etc), measures to try and prevent them, and guidelines on how to survive and manage an incident if it occurs. It also stresses the importance of incident analysis and better exchange of security information between agencies. Finally, a number of crosscutting themes are explored that are relevant to risk control such as personal and team competency, clarity towards national staff, good communications, briefing and training, etc. The annexes provide additional information, for example, on legal protection of aid workers, private security companies, the UN security management system, and insurance cover. The arguments in the GPR are illustrated with case material drawn from all over the world.
The dominant trend in international security over the past decade has been a move towards ‘remote control’: the increasing use of special forces, private military and security companies and remote systems at the expense of the engagement of large forces. Paul Rogers analyses how this trend has developed, and asks whether it can really provide an appropriate response to the likely threats against global security in the coming years.
In light of the need for humanitarian organizations to have adequate security for their operations, private security companies are now filling the void left by state forces. Little analysis, however, has been made of the impact of private security companies on the delivery of post‐Cold War humanitarian assistance. To make this analysis, the article considers the changes in humanitarian activity, the relevant services offered by private security providers, the differing issues relating to legitimacy factors and financial and political implications, and the state of the mechanisms capable of bringing about positive change in the relationship between private security companies and humanitarian organizations. In the main, the article asserts that reliance on the private security option as currently endowed, organized, and managed, while pragmatic and not without its benefits, is a highly problematic solution for humanitarians.
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In the business of peace
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Dangerous partnership
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Enduring challenges of security privatization in the humanitarian space
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The power to construct international security
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Outsourcing the making of militaries
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Industry Guidelines for the use of Private Maritime Security Contractors (PMSC) as Additional Protection in Waters Affected by Somali Piracy
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The expensive, diminishing threat of Somali piracy
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Editors' introduction: The emergence of maritime private security
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Rich returns for Somali pirates evading capture in Gulf of Aden
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The Peace and Stabilization Operations Program
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The end of war? The strategic context of international missions in the twenty first century
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2005), 182; Christopher Dandeker, ''The end of war? The strategic context of international missions in the twenty first century,'' in Magnus Chritiansson, ed., Eight Essays in Contemporary War
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Canada to become a top Western contributor in peacekeeping missions
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The Spectator's View: Let's be clear about peacekeeping risks
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Hillier laments military's 'decade of darkness' under Grits
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Liberals stop short on peacekeeping plan
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