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Privatising Peace

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Privatising Peace A Corporate Adjunct to United Nations Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Operations Malcolm Hugh Patterson

Malcolm Hugh Patterson 2009 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-22425-4 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries ISBN 978-1-349-30922-1 ISBN 978-0-230-24688-1 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230246881 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09

the world may not be ready to privatise peace. Kofi A. Annan, UN Secretary-General* If you re not going to use the private sector, who are you going to use? The only countries that do provide peace-keeping services are among the poorest countries in the world, so it s no small wonder when UN peacekeeping fails. Doug Brooks, President, International Peace Operations Association *UN Press Release SG/SM/6613/Rev. 1 (26 June 1998). Reproduced consistent with UN copyright requirements. Reproduced with author permission. E-mail communication 19 Sept. 2009.

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Contents Preface Abbreviations, Acronyms and Initialisms x xii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 An intractable problem 1 1.2 Chapter themes 7 Notes 10 2 Alternatives to Ad Hoc Sovereign Forces 13 2.1 Introduction 13 2.2 Legions and guard forces: origins and problems 13 2.3 Three historically prominent alternatives to ad hoc 15 forces 2.3.1 A permanent force of rotating states units 15 2.3.2 Standby forces 17 2.3.3 A permanent and volunteer UN legion 18 2.4 Regional peacekeeping and the declining power of 22 the UNSC 2.5 A miscellany of other alternatives to ad hoc forces 27 2.6 Summary 29 Notes 29 3 From Mercenary to UN Contractor? 39 3.1 Introduction 39 3.2 An historically pervasive means of waging war 40 3.3 Who is a mercenary? Problems of definition and 43 classification 3.4 An unexceptional mercenary: the UN member state 48 3.5 The UN view of non-state mercenarism 52 3.6 A taxonomy of private military, security and related 60 services 3.7 An advocate s case 63 3.8 Summary 73 Notes 74 4 The Public-Private Security Environment 88 4.1 Introduction 88 vii

viii Contents 4.2 History old and new 89 4.3 The rise of private authority 91 4.4 Corporate interests do not duplicate states interests 100 4.5 Some UN issues 104 4.6 Implications arising from recent US policy changes 109 4.7 Moral hazards and the PMSC 110 4.8 The de-stabilising capacity of resistant states 116 4.9 The UN and resistance to change 121 4.10 Summary 125 Notes 125 5 Other Industry Aspects 140 5.1 Introduction 140 5.2 Some contractor issues 141 5.3 An industry association 148 5.3.1 Capacity 148 5.3.2 Regulation 152 5.3.3 Legitimacy 156 5.4 An industry plan 158 5.4.1 Reasons for scepticism 158 5.4.2 US government interests 163 5.5 Six prominent vulnerabilities 167 5.5.1 The occasional indeterminacy of PMSC 167 weaponry 5.5.2 Adherence to international humanitarian norms 168 5.5.3 Dishonest employees and the negligent 170 employer 5.5.4 Problems in political risk assessment 170 5.5.5 The inappropriately violent PMSC 172 5.5.6 Political nepotism and market failure 174 5.6 Summary 175 Notes 176 6 A Modest Proposal 192 6.1 Introduction: solving problems 192 6.2 An adequacy of Charter powers and the new directorate 193 6.3 Discipline and criminal law 194 6.4 Measuring efficacy in the past and (more adeptly) in 200 the future 6.5 A further step: revived trusteeship + contract forces 202 6.6 Five legs to a new UN apparatus 206 6.7 Some criticisms 207

Contents ix 6.8 Summary 209 Notes 209 7 Conclusion 218 7.1 Introduction 218 7.2 A reprise: the Blackwater ploy and a wider problem 218 7.3 The sense in diplomacy 221 7.4 Summary: perception and misperception 223 Notes 225 Appendices I Proposed Contractor Peacekeeping and Intervention Model 228 II UNDPKO Organisational Chart 2007 229 III DFS Organisational Chart 2007 230 Glossary 231 Bibliography 232 Primary Sources 232 1. Interviewees listed alphabetically 232 2. Public Lectures, Industry Conferences, Debates and 233 Briefings 3. Documents 233 (a) Treaties 233 (b) United Nations Documents 233 (i) Selected General Assembly Resolutions 233 (ii) General Assembly and Security Council 234 Resolutions in Shortened Form (iii) International Court of Justice Cases 234 (iv) Other Courts and Tribunals 234 (v) Selected Policy Documents, Reports and Manuals 234 (c) Miscellaneous Declarations, Guidelines, Reports and 237 Principles (d) United States Government Documents 237 (i) Legislation 237 (ii) Cases 237 (iii) Field Manuals, Audits, Directives, Briefings and 237 Reviews Secondary Sources 238 Selected Books, Articles and Reports 238 Index 253

Preface The progression from research document to published manuscript is a well-trodden path, albeit one likely to expose an author s flair or otherwise in adapting to the needs of different readers. In this example the reader is encouraged to judge the result as a transformation in three aspects: conformity to industry prescriptions as to form and style; discriminating revision and updating of earlier material; and some judicious editing. The latter was driven by evolving circumstances, a requirement for greater concision and a clearer view of shortcomings in past work. The reader will also notice a shift between disciplines in Chapter 6. That segment contains a new peacekeeping model, described in part from a legal view. This is a necessary diversion and I do not believe the language of a second discipline will cause the content to appear tedious to the reader who does not possess a legal education. The manuscript has been intentionally fashioned to suit the general reader while retaining footnoting and attribution appropriate to a work of research. In performing necessary changes I have been fortunate to benefit from advice and guidance provided by my editor at Palgrave Macmillan, Ms Alexandra Webster and her assistant Ms Renée Takken. I wish to acknowledge the reproduction of my own material published elsewhere courtesy of two other firms. Mr Simon Lord of Oxford University Press advised an attribution requirement concerning reproduction of part of an article I wrote for the Journal of Conflict and Security Law Volume 13, Number 2 (2008). Much of this material is located in Chapter 6. Mr Gary Piper, Permissions and Subsidiary Rights Manager at Taylor and Francis (UK) advised the necessity for similar attribution in relation to parts of my chapter entitled Private Military and Security Companies and the International Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, in Andrew Tan (ed.), The Global Arms Trade Europa Routledge (Oxford 2009). That material is to be found mostly within Chapter 5. I am also grateful to Ms Kumiko Sugiyama of UN Permissions for prompt authority to reproduce two UN flow charts in Appendices II and III. Many parties assisted in the creation of the distilled and revised document which became this book. The interviewees generously provided their time during frequently demanding schedules. I am grateful to each. Several people deserve particular mention. Doug Brooks was both a helpful interviewee and remains the energetic force behind an indusx

Preface xi try e-mail list, a discussion group and a journal, each of which proved to be valuable research tools. Ms Leslie Dingle of the Law Library at Cambridge went out of her way to locate obscure materials. The unflappable Robert Spragg of the Jesus College Information Technology Unit repaired my computer several times at a moment s notice. And Ms Wendy Cooke at the Centre of International Studies dealt adeptly with various inquiries. James R. Davis is responsible for an earlier taxonomy which I expanded and adapted in Chapter 3. Professor Charles Garraway supplied knowledgeable advice on legal aspects of military operations. Those opinions assisted in early drafts of Chapter 6. The same chapter formed the core of the recent OUP article, which also benefited from helpful criticism supplied by Professor Philip Allott, Dr Roger O Keefe and Ms Sarah Nouwen. Dr Tarak Barkawi diligently delivered prompt and perceptive critiques. His disciplined perspicacity was always valuable. Professor Brendan Simms was kind enough to read most of the work and contribute characteristically incisive criticism. Discussions with Dr Chris Kinsey regarding the PMSC industry and its development were always fruitful. He continues to provide reliable opinions and obliging counsel on academic matters more generally. And my wife Margaret patiently read perhaps a dozen drafts, in which she corrected text or suggested prudent changes. Malcolm Hugh Patterson April 2009

Abbreviations, Acronyms and Initialisms AMIS ASEAN AU BAPSC CEMAC CEO CIA CIS DCAA DDR DFS DOMREP DPKO DRC ECOMOG ECOWAS EO EU/EC FM GAO ICG ICRC IFOR IGAD IGO IHI IPOA ISAF African Mission in Sudan Association of South-East Asian Nations African Union British Association of Private Security Companies Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States Chief Executive Officer Central Intelligence Agency Commonwealth of Independent States Defense Contract Audit Agency (USA) Disarmament, De-Mobilisation and Re-Integration Program Department of Field Support (United Nations) Mission of the Representative of the Sec. Gen. in the Dominican Republic Department of Peacekeeping Operations (United Nations) Democratic Republic of Congo Economic Community of West Africa Monitoring Group Economic Community of West African States Executive Outcomes European Union / Community Field Manual Government Accountability Office (USA) International Crisis Group International Committee of the Red Cross Implementation Force (NATO, in Bosnia & Herzegovina) Inter-Governmental Authority on Development Inter-Governmental Organisation International Humanitarian Intervention International Peace Operations Association International Security Assistance Force xii

Abbreviations, Acronyms and Initialisms xiii KFOR LOGCAP MONUC MPRI NATO NCO NGO OAS OAU OECD OHCR ONUC ONUCA ONUMOZ ONUSAL ONUVEN OSCE P5 PKO PMC PMSC PSC PSO RAF RMA ROC RUF SADC SAIC SAIIA SALW SBI SF SFOR SIGIR SIPRI SoFA SSR Kosovo Force (NATO) Logistics Civil Augmentation Program United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo Military Professional Resources Inc North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Non-Commissioned Officer Non-Government Organisation Organization of American States Organization of African Unity Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations Operation in the Congo United Nations Observer Group in Central America United Nations Operation in Mozambique United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador UN Obser. Miss. for the Verification of Elections in Nicaragua Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Permanent Five Members of the UN Security Council Peacekeeping Operation Private Military Company Private Military and Security Company Private Security Company Peace Support Operations Royal Air Force Revolution in Military Affairs Reconstruction Operations Center (Iraq) Revolutionary United Front Southern African Development Community Science Applications International Corporation South African Institute for International Affairs Small Arms and Light Weapons Program Secure Border Initiative Special Forces Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina Special Inspector-General for Iraqi Reconstruction Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Status of Forces Agreement Security Sector Reform

xiv Abbreviations, Acronyms and Initialisms UN UNAMIC UNAMIR UNAMSIL UNASOG UNAVEM I/II/III UNCIVPOL UNDOF UNEF I/II UNFICYP UNGA UNGCI UNHCR UNIFIL UNITA UNITAF UNMEE UNMIH I/II UNMIK UNMOGIP UNOMIL UNOSOM I/II UNPREDEP UNPROFOR UNSAS UNSC UNSCOM UNSF UNTAC UNTAET UNTAG UNTEA UNTSO US United Nations United Nations Advance Mission in Cambodia United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone United Nations Aouzou Strip Observer Group United Nations Angola Verification Mission United Nations Civilian Police United Nations Disengagement Observer Force United Nations Emergency Force United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus United Nations General Assembly United Nations Guards Contingent in Iraq Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon National Union for the Total Independence of Angola Unified Task Force (Somalia) United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea United Nations Mission in Haiti United Nations Mission in Kosovo United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia United Nations Operation in Somalia United Nations Preventive Deployment Force United Nations Protection Force (Former Yugoslavia) United Nations Standby Arrangements System United Nations Security Council United Nations Special Commission United Nations Security Force in West New Guinea United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor United Nations Transition Assistance Group (Namibia) UN Temporary Executive Authority (West New Guinea) United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation United States of America