Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1199575 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-22
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 330 pages

Synopsis
Some have claimed that "War is too important to be left to the generals", but P.W. Singer asks "What about the business executives?". Breaking out of the guns-for-hire mould of traditional mercenaries, corporations now sell skills and services that until recently only state militaries possessed. Their products range from trained commando teams to strategic advice from generals. This new "privatized military industry" encompasses hundreds of companies, thousands of employees, and billions in revenue. Whether as proxies or suppliers, such firms have participated in wars in Africa, Asia, the Balkans and Latin America. More recently, they have become a key element in US military operations. Private corporations working for profit now sway the course of national and international conflict, but the consequences have been little explored. In this book, Singer provides an account of the military services industry and its broader implications.

"Corporate Warriors" includes a description of how the business works, as well as portraits of each of the basic types of companies: military providers that offer troops for tactical operations; military consultants that supply expert advice and training; and military support companies that sell logistics, intelligence and engineering. The privatization of warfare allows startling new capabilities and efficiencies in the ways that war is carried out. At the same time, however, Singer finds that the entrance of the profit motive onto the battlefield raises a series of troubling questions - for democracy, for ethics, for management, for human rights and for national security.

Customer Reviews

A good and instructive review of the horizon
This book is a timely review of an increasingly prickly subject. Written in a style that the is neither too academic nor too populist the book strikes the right sober and dispassionate note in reviewing the entirety of the subject -- from messy little wars propping up dictators; to wars that the major states will not or cannot fight ("We don't do mountain warfare" as I believe a spokesman for the US forces is reported to have said in Afghanistan) to the preservation of life and the protection of humanitarian aid agencies. Throughout the entire text, Singer is objective and even-handed.

Much of the commercial information contained in the book is highly detailed and supported by extensive footnotes. The details of the commercial deals struck between client and mercenaries and the historical background -- both the near history and the far -- make fascinating reading.

My criticisms are that the book becomes slightly repetitive in driving points home. Better editing would have prevented that -- as it would some of the egregious errors of syntax, grammar and vocabulary that Mr Singer occasionally commits. But overall this is a very useful book for students in any of the disciplines of world affairs, international relations, business and management or ethics. It deserves a wide readership.