The presence of contractors on today's battlefields is without question one of the most significant developments in modern warfare. While many contractors perform relatively benign tasks on behalf of the military, controversy rages around those contractors who offer services that involve the use of armed force.

The rise of the private military industry raises some difficult issues. For example, Jeremy Scahill, one of the industry's most vociferous critics, questions whether the outsourcing of military force is not 'a subversion of the very existence of the nation-state and of...

The presence of contractors on today's battlefields is without question one of the most significant developments in modern warfare. While many contractors perform relatively benign tasks on behalf of the military, controversy rages around those contractors who offer services that involve the use of armed force.

The rise of the private military industry raises some difficult issues. For example, Jeremy Scahill, one of the industry's most vociferous critics, questions whether the outsourcing of military force is not 'a subversion of the very existence of the nation-state and of...