Routledge The Routledge Research Companion to Security Outsourcing (Routledge Handbooks)

Conveniently structured into five sections, The Routledge Research Companion to Outsourcing Security offers an overview of the different ways in which states have come to rely on private contractors to support interventions. Part One puts into context the evolution of outsourcing in Western states that are actively involved in expeditionary operations as well as the rise of the commercial security sector in Afghanistan. To explain the various theoretical frameworks that students can use to study security/military outsourcing, Part Two outlines the theories behind security outsourcing. Part Three examines the law and ethics surrounding the outsourcing of security by focusing on how states might monitor contractor behaviour, hold them to account and prosecute them where their behaviour warrants such action. The drivers, politics and consequences of outsourcing foreign policy are covered in Part Four, which is divided into two sections: section one is concerned with armed contractors (providing the provision of private security with the main driver being a capability gap on the part of the military/law enforcement agencies), and section two looks at military contractors (supporting military operations right back to antiquity, less controversial politically and often technologically driven). The final Part takes into consideration emerging perspectives, exploring areas such as gender, feminist methodology, maritime security and the impact of private security on the military profession. This book will be of much interest to students of military and security studies, foreign policy and International Relations. Review 'This volume presents a comprehensive selection of the latest research analyzing the challenges, complexities, and ambiguities surrounding the diverse state of strategic outsourcing of private security to conflict settings. Anyone curious about how this crucial development has dramatically transformed the global security landscape would find this to be an invaluable reference.' -- Robert Mandel, Lewis & Clark College, USA ‘An essential reader’s guide to security outsourcing in high risk or conflict environments, bringing together established and new scholars from a variety of disciplines to focus on how and why governments decide to use market rather than public actors in dealing with international security challenges. It is a refreshing and original contribution to the field of the privatisation of security that will appeal to academic, policy and general audiences.’ -- Christopher Dandeker, King’s College London, UK About the Author Joakim Berndtsson is a Associate Professor at the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Christopher Kinsey is Reader in Business & International Security at Kings College London, UK.