Private Military Contractors

Professional Overseas Contractors

By Ed O'Keefe — Interested in working for the U.S. government in Iraq? Though the dangers are obvious, the pay and perks can be pretty good.

Federal employees and contractors serving here face an almost-daily barrage of rocket attacks, the inability to travel freely, scorching hot temperatures and other cultural and linguistic limitations. But workers with the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development and other federal agencies keep on coming, especially as the U.S. presence here becomes more of a civilian affair.

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Professional Overseas Contractors

This article examines the relation between NATO member states and the deployment of private military and security companies (PMSCs) in NATO missions. The phenomenon of PMSCs and the deployment of PMSCs has been extensively researched. The deployment of PMSCs by NATO member states in NATO missions has not been researched as much.

The article provides three hypothesis to test whether the deployment of PMSCs by NATO member states should be increased. The ISAF NATO mission is analysed using an regulatory case study, in order to provide an answer to the question why NATO member states deploy PMSCs in NATO missions. Over the course of the ISAF mission, the quality and quantity of deployed PMSCs varied, making it debatable whether the deployment of PMSCs in NATO mission was beneficial.

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Professional Overseas Contractors

By Sara A. Carter — Surrounded by increasing violence and instability, U.S. contractors left behind in Afghanistan are raising alarm about the potential for another Benghazi tragedy, saying the State Department isn't sharing with them a plan to evacuate if insurgents launch a debilitating attack.

The concerns are heightened by the fact that many of those civilians doing the security and nation-building work of the U.S. government hold sensitive security clearances, making them an attractive target for the enemy.

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