Natural Resources and Private Military Security Companies: How Do They Affect Civil War Duration
Abstract
The commissioning of mercenary companies, otherwise known today as private military security companies (PMSCs), to enhance military and political capabilities as well as to ensure economic stability for state and non-state actors is well known in the subfield of conflict studies. The conflict studies sub-discipline of civil wars is also well researched with numerous studies that address the four common variables of civil war scholarship: (1) onset, (2) intensity, (3) duration and (4) termination. However, there are few studies that address civil war duration, natural resources, and PMSCs (foreign intervention). The goal of this paper is to identify how PMSCs may affect civil war duration in developing African states with resource wealth. This paper finds that PMSCs can increase the duration of a civil war because of the services provided and the promise of future extraction rights (FER) for natural resources as payment for the commission of the PMSCs by the state government. The two civil war case studies for consideration are the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002) and the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2000). Executive Outcomes (EO) and Sandline International are the two PMSCs that participated in Angola's and Sierra Leones civil wars.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 16, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1112118
Entities
People
- Leroy B. Butler
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College