Unpacking the Private Military Complex

David Isenberg

THE SHELL GAME

The contract ran eighty-three pages. Buried on page forty-six, in the particular gray prose that law firms reserve for their most dangerous sentences, sat the clause that mattered more than…

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Strategic Satirical Fiction

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THE SHELL GAME

The contract ran eighty-three pages. Buried on page forty-six, in the particular gray prose that…

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    Companies

    1. Allied Universal Advances Growth Strategy with Recent Strategic Acquisitions
    2. 287(g) Texas Transportation
    3. Swarmer Signs MOU With Vectus Air Defense Systems for End-to-End Mobile Air Defense Systems
    4. Pilot’s chilling audio heard as military jet crashes into Pacific off California coast: ‘Mayday, mayday’
    5. US officials see closer ties with Trump ally Prince's security firm in Haiti, military adviser says
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    Academic

    1. From Corsairs to Private Military Contractors. Nonmilitary Maritime Actors and the Historical Continuities of Naval Warfare
    2. Russian Geo-Strategic and Economic Interests and Wagner Group’s Deployment in Libyan and Syrian Conflicts
    3. Deconstructing Plausible Deniability and Attributing Responsibility for the Conduct of Private Military Companies
    4. Strategic Blindness in the Sahel: Russian Influence and EU Security
    5. Soldiers of Misfortune: Mercenaries and Digital Propaganda in Africa
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    Russia

    1. How are shadow fleet tankers monitored for PMC presence?
    2. Russian Scouts Report Mercenaries From NATO Countries on Dnepr Islands
    3. Colombian mercenaries flock to rescue a 'cauldron' in Kharkiv.
    4. Russia recruits mercenaries around the world: citizens of 55 countries are captured in Ukraine
    5. Niger Mutiny Highlights Russia’s Regime Protection Role
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    Legal

    1. Presidential Memorandum Authorizes Private-Sector Offensive Cyber Operations Against Transnational Criminal Organizations
    2. More arrests made in Haitian president's 2021 assassination
    3. 18 suspects in 2021 Haiti president’s killing sent to US for trial
    4. US expands its prosecution of 2021 assassination of Haiti’s president
    5. Delhi court grants default bail to 6 Ukrainians in Myanmar drone training camp case
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    Outsourcing/Privatization

    1. THE SHELL GAME
    2. Presidential Memorandum Authorizes Private-Sector Offensive Cyber Operations Against Transnational Criminal Organizations
    3. From Corsairs to Private Military Contractors. Nonmilitary Maritime Actors and the Historical Continuities of Naval Warfare
    4. THE VERMAAK ADDRESS
    5. THE CONTRACT CENTURY
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    Isenberg Institute of Strategic Satire

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