ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on one particular aspect of security outsourcing in conflict environments, namely the relationship between private security actors and the military. It provides the idea of private security company (PSC)-military relations are elaborated on, connecting it both to the literature on civil-military relations, military professionalism and to the role of PSCs in military operations. It then focuses on issues of civil-military cooperation, operational effectiveness, military professionalism, and issues of recruitment and retention in the armed forces. The chapter outlines several avenues for future theoretical and empirical research. As many analysts have observed, the increasing reliance on PSCs adds a commercial component to military operations, raising concerns about increasing complexity of military and civilian operations, a potential lack of state control of force, and questions about the impact of outsourcing on civil-military or PSC-military cooperation and coordination on the ground. In addition, security and military outsourcing also means increasing competition over security expertise and military professionalism.
