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- Has the Privatization of National Security Gone Too Far? The Future of Military Contracting, November 14, 2008, 9:30-11:00am, New America Foundation
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Articles: Mercenaries
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International Law and the Control of Mercenaries and Private Military Companies
International Law and the Control of Mercenaries and Private Military Companies Christopher Kinsey Cultures & Conflicts 2008 You must be logged in to view this content. Click here to subscribe
Russian Forces Kill 20 Brazilian Mercenaries Fighting for Ukraine
Russian Forces Kill 20 Brazilian Mercenaries Fighting for Ukraine North Atlantic Treaty Organization / www.nato.int Author: Alexey Khomyakov 02:42 21-08-2026 Russian forces killed 20 Brazilian mercenaries fighting for Ukraine, with recruitment… You must be logged in to view this content. … Continue reading
Posted in Casualties, Mercenaries, Russia, Ukraine
Tagged Casualties, Mercenaries, Russia, Ukraine
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The Rise of Cyber Mercenaries: How Private Threat Actors Are Reshaping Global Conflict
The traditional monopoly of nation-states over advanced cyber-espionage and offensive digital operations has fundamentally collapsed. In its place, a lucrative, globally distributed marketplace of Private Sector Offensive Actors (PSOAs) and Commercial Surveillance Vendors (CSVs) frequently termed “cyber mercenaries” has emerged to redefine the parameters of modern conflict. This industry, estimated to be worth more than $12 billion worldwide, specializes in the development, packaging, and deployment of highly invasive intrusion suites to government clients. By democratizing access to military-grade cyber weapons, these commercial entities are reshaping geopolitical power dynamics, allowing middle-tier and authoritarian regimes to project asymmetric power, and introducing systemic instability to the digital ecosystem. Continue reading
Posted in Mercenaries, Outsourcing/Privatization
Tagged Mercenaries, Outsourcing/Privatization
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THE DORSAI CONTRACT
Gordon R. Dickson’s Dorsai novels (beginning with Dorsai! in 1959 and continuing across the Childe Cycle) construct a planetary society whose sole exportable good is elite soldiering, organized around a rigorously contractual ethic of service. This dossier argues that the Dorsai model is not merely a science-fiction invention but a distilled, idealized synthesis of institutional patterns that recur across the historical and contemporary mercenary trade: the economic logic by which resource-poor populations convert martial skill into an export commodity; the use of binding, honor-policed contracts as the organizing principle of loyalty; and the cultivation of elite-selection pipelines as a market signal of quality. Continue reading
Posted in Academic, David Isenberg, IISS Analysis, Mercenaries
Tagged Academic, David Isenberg, Mercenaries
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Russia grants citizenship to a Cuban mercenary who participated in the invasion of Ukraine
Ernesto Villarino Trujillo, a Cuban citizen who fought in the Ukrainian region of Lugansk, received his Russian passport at an official ceremony held in the city of Vyatskie Polyany, located in the Kirov region. Continue reading
Posted in Cuba, Mercenaries, Russia, Ukraine
Tagged Cuba, Mercenaries, Russia, Ukraine
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UAE-funded mercenary targeted British activist in covert London operation, ITV reports
A mercenary working on behalf of the United Arab Emirates carried out a covert surveillance operation against prominent British Muslim activist Anas Altikriti in London, according to an investigation by ITV News. Continue reading
Posted in Companies, Mercenaries, UAE, UK
Tagged Companies, Mercenaries, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom
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JOVANA JEZDIMIROVIC RANITO
Dr. Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito is a Serbian-born scholar of international security and the private use of force who occupies an unusual dual position: a tenured-track academic post at the University of Twente’s honours college, University College Twente (UCT/ATLAS), and, concurrently, one of the most consequential international human-rights mandates dealing with privatized force — Chairperson-Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries. Continue reading
‘Air thick with flies’: UAE’s Colombian mercenaries recount horrors of Sudan siege
The air was thick with flies, drawn by both the dead bodies and the heaps of trash. There were bodies that had already turned purple from being exposed to the sun for so long . . . it was awful having those flies buzzing around you while you ate. Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Colombia, Mercenaries, UAE
Tagged Africa, Colombia, Mercenaries, Sudan, United Arab Emirates
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Cops move to prevent recruitment of possible mercenaries
THE National Police (PNP) has intensified efforts to prevent Filipino jobseekers from being lured into joining armed conflicts abroad Continue reading
Russia brands foreign mercenaries with numbers – Ukraine intel
Russia brands foreign mercenaries serving in its army to tighten control and strip them of their identity. These “inventory numbers” are applied to equipment or directly to the skin, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) reported on Aug. 17, publishing accompanying photos. Continue reading