The UN is in need of a Private Military Company footprint

At the UN headquarters in New York and in peacekeeping missions throughout the world, the fifth International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is celebrated today. This solemn occasion is a timely reminder of the invaluable and risky work UN peacekeeper undertake in attempting to bring peace to conflict regions. In the background of the occasion, however, the blue helmets find themselves overstretched with demand for them at an all-time high and likely to remain at that level in the near future.

In order to meet this growing demand and in light of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki moon’s timely call for the restructuring of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), perhaps it is time to consider the positive impact adequately vetted Private Military Companies can have in the emerging equation.

As of April 2007, there were more than 83,000 uniformed personnel (troops, police, and military observers) from about 115 countries serving in 18 operations supported by DPKO. Approved resources for the period 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007 stand at $5.48B, representing about 11% of an estimated aggregated total of $47.22B since 1948. Total number of documented fatalities in the service of peace since 1948 is 2,355, more than 100 of them last year. While ongoing commitments would at least require maintaining these robust figures, meeting international clamour for intervention in escalating conflicts in Africa and the Middle East makes indispensable more uniformed personnel and resources.

In addition, the overhaul of DPKO will require accommodations within the UN organization and across the international community of states that in the short term might constrain effective peacekeeping response to new conflicts. In the longer term, although both traditional donors and Non-Aligned Movement countries support for Ki moon’s call for reform, it remains to be seen if consensus holds when specific requirements are addressed and offices dispensed.

At the same time, our shrinking world continues to turn into a dangerous place with virulent hotspots spreading and intractable grievances penetrating communities in a global scale. It is not an optimistic outlook that requires fresh input and innovative solutions at all levels of the process if we are going to make it into the second half of the 21^st century with only minor bruises to show.

Contrary to popular belief, Private Military Companies (PMCs) have been assisting the missions that the UN and the humanitarian community at large maintain in conflict-torn societies. They facilitate and secure the transport of personnel and goods, provide logistic and risk-mitigation assistance, render many specialized services such as mine clearance and the disposal of unexploded ordnance (UXO), as well as offer training in all these critical areas. These PMCs are well-established firms of international reputation and not some of the unsavoury contractors that you might have read about in the press. Indeed, they are for-profit enterprises, yet hardly the development bandits some might like to entertain. Far from that, their personnel risk their lives supporting peace missions and are aware of the importance of their work for the success of humanitarian and reconstruction undertakings. At a time of DPKO reform and the need for fresh ideas to revamp international peacekeeping, it is time to bring formally PMCs into the process and allow their expert input to strengthen peacekeeping.

The private military alternative has proven to be cost-effective, to be flexible and swift when called to service, and willing to take on broader and more challenging roles. There is not need for politically contentious international tendering mechanisms at this stage. Vetted companies could provide key personnel on retainers for the UN to deploy swiftly and on demand. That way, UNPK can guarantee the unity of command, the promotion of integration efforts, and the enhancement of operational capacities it endeavours in its reform plans. Yet this highly-trained composite of PMC personnel can act as a much needed force and technological enhancer when amalgamated with blue helmets properly. Give the PMC alternative their due role in international peacekeeping through this ‘trial’ scheme and take it from there. You are not likely to be disappointed. In return, you will be giving peace a better chance.

In the news: South Africa

A leading supplier of private military and private security personnel, South Africa has stirred passions since early drafts of the Prohibition of Mercenary Activity and Prohibition and Regulation of Certain Activities in an Area of Armed Conflict Bill started to circulate a year ago.

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UK move on mercenaries

The UK is pressing South Africa to soften the impact of a controversial anti-mercenary bill that could stop South Africans serving in the British Army and prevent them from working for private security companies worldwide. South Africa’s parliament passed the bill last year after international criticism of the role of South African mercenaries in events such as the high-profile alleged plot in 2004 to stage a coup in the oil-rich western African nation of Equatorial Guinea.

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Meet the first lady of the defence industry

As the British Airways flight from Washington to London touched down at 10.30am at Heathrow last Monday, the most powerful woman in the American defence industry was nervously checking her Blackberry. Linda Hudson, president of Land & Armaments at BAE Systems, was flying in to host a leadership conference for top company managers but her plans were derailed when an e-mail pinged up just hours later confirming she had clinched the $4.1 billion (£2.1 billion) takeover of America’s Armor Holdings – the biggest acquisition in BAE’s history.

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In the news: Armor Holdings

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Armor Holdings operates with 25 facilities in nine countries, with revenue of $1.6 billion in 2005. Armor Holdings' products and systems are used domestically and internationally by military, law enforcement, security and corrections personnel, as well as governmental agencies, multinational corporations and individuals.

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Insuring the life of public and private soldiers

The re-invention of military forces into leaner and more specialised machineries through downsizing and contracting-out has engendered both opportunities and problems for authorities to consider. An issue of particular concern for governments has been that pay rises in the military have not kept pace with the private sector. Whilst authorities try to retain their most talented military personnel beyond the date they are eligible to apply for retirement, private sector opportunities continue to lure them out. Let me make clear that there is nothing wrong about former military personnel working in the private military industry. They earn that right through service. However, an interesting dynamic unfolds when the field is levelled between governments and the private sector for the retention of highly-skilled personnel. Therefore, it is interesting to examine the actions the governments of leading suppliers of private military companies and personnel, e.g. the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), undertake to pre-empt competition and motivate officers to remain on service beyond the retirement threshold. In this light, it is worth highlighting the launch by the British Ministry of Defence in association with Sterling Life Ltd of a new life insurance scheme tailored for the Armed Forces: the Service Life Insurance (SLI). The risks associated with service in Iraq and Afghanistan have noticeably increased over the last two years. However, insurance firms have not been innovative enough to address the realities of post-9/11 conflicts and develop products tailored for servicemen engaged in them. Far from that, boardroom solutions have focused on raising life insurance premiums to prohibitive levels or closing the doors to soldiers on route to Iraq and Afghanistan altogether. Private military personnel have encountered the same problem too. In addressing such a critical need, SLI thus offers an attractive and needed service to British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is hoped similar innovative solutions will be on offer for private military personnel too. For in the end both public and private soldiers often find themselves fighting for the same causes, in similar arenas of conflict, and inevitably exposed to similar levels of risk.

UK troops to get life insurance

About 300,000 armed forces personnel are to be offered life assurance under a Ministry of Defence (MOD) scheme. Until now, they had found it difficult and costly to get insurance, because insurers feared the costs of high casualties from a major war. The Service Life Insurance (SLI) will be offered by insurer Sterling Life, but major losses will be underwritten by the government. SLI will be available immediately to regular and reservist personnel.

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Armor Holdings Agrees to $3.37B Takeover

Armor Holdings Inc., maker of military vehicles and bulletproof vests, has agreed to a $3.37 billion takeover by global defense contractor BAE Systems Inc. The purchase price of $88 a share in cash represents a 7 percent premium to the closing price of Armor Holdings stock on Friday, 4 May 2007.