Private Military Firms: An Introduction

A tectonic shift has begun. Capitalism is abolishing the state. A bold statement, we know, especially in a post-9/11 world in which the state appears to be reasserting itself. But look closely. What we're actually seeing is the movement of capitalism into realms that had been monopolized by the state since the middle of the 17th Century. The functions of the state are not disappearing, but they are being executed by corporations rather than the bureaucratic apparatuses of nation-states.

The state, at its most elementary, is a monopoly on violence. We are now seeing the privatization of that coercive power, a process that has already shattered the state's monopoly. This alone is exceedingly noteworthy, and its implications will reverberate throughout the world geo-politics of the future. The questions for anarchists are many, but for the purpose of this blog, we will focus on the strategic challenges and opportunities created by this change. Obviously, such a large topic cannot be covered in a single post, so we will touch on a very small part of it now and return often in the future.

Private military firms are the primary vehicles through which coercion is being outsourced and privatized; essentially, they are corporations that offer services traditionally located within the realm of state militaries. There are the obvious examples, such as the many firms presently deploying armed troops in Iraq (where private contractors now outnumber government troops), such as Blackwater, MPRI, and Triple Canopy. They field battalion-sized armies aided by all manner of battlefield supports, technology that often exceeds that of state armies, and a wealth of tactical experience and savvy. Firms such as these are the heavyweights, and they are receiving the bulk of the attention, primarily from shrill liberals who would prefer to see the state monopoly maintained. We must be careful not frame this discussion in reformist terms. As anarchists, our concern is with the strategic implications of this shift, not with making a reactionary call for rolling it back. Our project is to dismantle authoritarianism in all its forms; private military firms are a new form, and we must adapt our fighting style accordingly. We needn't exhibit a nostalgic preference for our old enemies.

Since we here at the Center are keenly interested in the doings of private military firms, we will explain and expound upon their different aspects regularly. But for the time being, we want to highlight one particular range of services offered by private military firms, one that is less obvious but quite significant: intelligence gathering. The employees of private military firms are not just redneck cowboys who run around post-Katrina New Orleans bearing assault rifles and stun grenades. They are also former intelligence analysts and spies, people who have spent decades working for the government gathering and processing strategically valuable information. Now, their services are for hire, and they are being deployed in a multitude of ways.

To take one interesting example, a firm consisting primarily of ex-CIA agents called Total Intelligence Solutions was recently launched, and it has formed a strategic partnership with Blackwater and Blackwater's offshore affiliate, Greystone Ltd. Translation: you can now hire a private army that can operate anywhere in world with the support of a fully functional intelligence agency, the implications of which are touched upon here (for those interested in this topic, that link is worth exploring at length.) A firm called Trident Group, consisting of ex-KGB agents, has quietly spent the last 11 years gathering intelligence on behalf of U.S. companies with investments in Russia, which highlights the fact that many of these firms' services are being employed by corporations against other corporations. Another firm, Aegis Defense Services Ltd., one of the largest private military firms in the world, has been performing intelligence services on a U.S. Army contract in Iraq for sometime now, aiding the counterinsurgency efforts of the U.S. military (the implications of this type of activity is fairly self-explanatory.) To grasp just how far the privatization of intelligence has gone, and how much power has now been placed in corporate hands, consider that 70% of the U.S. government's classified intelligence budget is now spent on private contractors (the article to which this links gives a good overall explanation of the private intelligence industry.)

So, in closing, this post is meant merely to lay the groundwork for future posts on the same topic and to begin a discussion of how we ought to incorporate an understanding of privatized coercion into our strategy. Might we see private intelligence firms deployed by corporations against anarchists (think: HLS)? How will we respond when we encounter them again at the scene of a disaster? Can we find a way to use this shift in power to our advantage?