A legitimate practice? How the United Nations justifies the use of private military and security companies
Date
2023
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Private Military and Security companies (PMSCs) are important non-state actors with growing
influence in international relations. In this paper, the legitimacy of the use of PMSCs is explored
in the case of the United Nations (UN). Constructivist framework is employed to understand
the legitimation of the use of PMSCs in contacts of international norms such as the antimercenary
norm, states’ monopoly on violence and prohibition of use of force in international
relations. Based on a search in the UN's official Document System and reports by the Working
Group on the use of mercenaries, the UN officials have not given many norm-based
explanations to their use of PMSCs and instead employ functional explanations while also
framing the use as inevitable. Through the latter, the UN has managed to avoid the
responsibility for making the decision of employing PMSCs and largely also the legitimacy of
this use.