ESRC Project on “The Morality of Private War” (RES-000-22-4042)

Dr James Pattison, Lecturer in Politics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, M13 9PL, james.pattison@manchester.ac.uk

From Sept 2010-2012, James Pattison will be engaged in research project on the ethical issues raised by the increased use of private military and security companies.

SUMMARY: The private military industry has been growing rapidly since the end of the Cold War. Private military and security companies (PMSCs) provide a myriad of services, including the training of troops and security forces, the provision of transportation and logistics, and a number of roles more likely to involve direct combat, such as the protection of state officials. Given its extent, the increased reliance on PMSCs is often claimed to be one the most significant changes in the military profession over the past three decades. Although the potential benefits and disadvantages of using PMSCs are often discussed, the ethical considerations are rarely fully elaborated. This research project will therefore use normative political theory to assess the leading normative objections to the use of private military and security companies. It will develop a normative framework (the Moderate Instrumentalist Approach) on the justifiability of private force for individual contractors and those employing the services of PMSCs (e.g., states). It will also develop two themes: first, the use of PMSCs raises a number of deeper, more fundamental normative difficulties, in addition to the more obvious contingent problems; second, the use of PMSCs can, nevertheless, sometimes be morally acceptable, even in combat roles. To do this, the research will consider six central issues: (i) if and when individual contractors can permissibly use and assist military force; (ii) private contractors' liability to attack; (iii) the legitimacy of states that employ PMSCs; (iv) whether military services should be viewed as a public good; (v) the possibility of using PMSCs to augment the international community's capacity to undertake humanitarian intervention; and (vi) the use of PMSCs by humanitarian organisations to protect their personnel and infrastructure in the field.

Work associated with the morality of private force:

· James Pattison (under contract) The Morality of Private War (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

· James Pattison (forthcoming) “When Is It Right to Fight? Just War Theory and the Individual-Centric Approach”, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice [12,400 words]. [Available on Early View]

· Deane-Peter Baker and James Pattison (forthcoming) “'The Principled Case for Employing Private Military and Security Companies in Interventions for Human Rights Purposes.”, Journal of Applied Philosophy. [Available on Early View]

· James Pattison (forthcoming) “The Legitimacy of the Military, Private Military and Security Companies, and Just War Theory”, European Journal of Political Theory [10,300 words]. [Available on Early View]

· Deane-Peter Baker and James Pattison (forthcoming) “Mercenaries and Private Military Companies”. Commissioned entry in Hugh LaFollette (ed), The International Encyclopedia of Ethics [3,000 words].

· James Pattison (2010) “Deeper Objections to the Privatisation of Military Force”, Journal of Political Philosophy, 18 (4), pp. 425–47. The definitive, typeset version of this paper is available here.

· James Pattison (2010) “Outsourcing the Responsibility to Protect: Humanitarian Intervention and Private Military and Security Companies”, International Theory, 2 (1), pp. 1–31. The definitive, typeset version of this paper is available here.

· James Pattison (2008) “Just War Theory and the Privatization of Military Force”, Ethics and International Affairs, 22 (2), pp. 143–62. The definitive (typeset) version of this article is available here.