Private military corporations, private military firms, separate security organization, military services providers, the separated military industry are all attempts to pin the phenomena of private companies giving services on the world market that have normallybeen workof national military forces or include armed security detail for business in unstable areas. All service caters to security, and the growing need for security in a world wrought with varying economic, strategic, and military interests has provided a marketplace that is rapidly growing.

These programs include risk advisory, training of local forces, armed site security, cash transport, intelligence programs, air support, logistical support, maritime security, cyber security, weapons destruction, prisons, surveillance, psychological warfare, propaganda techniques, covert operations, close protection and investigations.

The industry is best explained by the services given, and not by the business in particular. Companies may give a vast range of services, not all of which, or in some cases, most of which do not fall into the loosely defined category of private military programs. Other businesses may only give programs in the security and logistics fields with few or any options outside those specialties. Many security businesses have been around for quite some time and have adapted to to 21st century necessities including terrorism and business ventures in unstable regions. Others have been recently created to fill the market niche left by downsized militaries coupled with military endeavors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, others focus on peacekeeping missions and post-war civil training.

The businesses of today are used by governments, corporations, humanitarian organizations and NGOs, media personnel, and the UN. Private military contractors are the second largest force in Iraq with over twenty thousand active personnel in the country. The industry is climbing with some estimating annual contracts in the $10-$20 billion range and others citing numbers as high as $100 billion. Though a worldwide phenomena, the United States and Great Britain account for over 70% of the world’s market for their programs. The only largest issue introduced by the evolution of military services by the private sector is the degree to which organizations have risen above the power of governments, rising as an important variable within international and regional diplomacy, and redefining sovereignty in the 21st century.

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