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Privatization of Security: PMCs as an Instrument of American and British Policy in Africa
 
PIIS086919080031433-3-1
DOI10.31696/S086919080031433-3
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Sergey Kostelyanets 
Occupation: Leading Research Fellow, Head of the Centre for Social and Political Studies
Affiliation: Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Tatyana Denisova
Occupation: Leading Research Fellow, Head of the Centre for the Study of Africa South of Sahara
Affiliation: Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameVostok. Afro-Aziatskie obshchestva: istoriia i sovremennost
EditionIssue 5
Pages120-131
Abstract

Since the 1990s, the use by the US and UK of private military companies (PMCs) to promote their political and economic interests in Africa has become an integral part of the military-political activities of these global powers. Currently, Western PMCs operate in almost all Africa’s states and regions, engaged – along with “peacebuilding” – in providing military and related services to African governments, TNCs, NGOs and other organizations. The role of private military and security structures in Africa is attracting increasing attention from politicians and researchers, perhaps due to the growing activity of Russian and Chinese PMCs. This is not surprising: in the 2010s – 2020s, private military companies, at least the largest of them, have evolved from commercial organizations into effective instruments for promoting and protecting political and economic interests of their countries of origin. However, their activities often have a destabilizing effect on the situation in the areas of their deployment.

The nature of the actions of American and British PMCs in Africa remains ambiguous. Indeed, it would be unfair to belittle their merits as auxiliary forces in UN missions and the importance of the work they do in logistics and technical support for peacekeeping operations, mine clearance, construction, escort of humanitarian convoys, etc. At the same time, a comprehensive analysis of the activities of Western PMCs on the African continent demonstrates that the tasks and results of their work do not always correspond to the interests of Africans and do not justify the hopes of the latter for achieving stability.

KeywordsAfrica, USA, UK, PMCs, military-political conflicts, peacekeeping, foreign policy
Received29.06.2024
Publication date27.10.2024
Number of characters30144
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1 ВВЕДЕНИЕ
2 Деятельности частных военных компаний в мире в целом и в Африке, в частности, посвящено немало работ зарубежных авторов [Brooks, 2002; Minnaar, 2004; Kinsey, 2006; Beekhuis, 2015; Badzyriska, 2021 и др.], в основном указывающих на положительные стороны использования ЧВК при разрешении военно-политических кризисов. В свою очередь, российские исследователи [Мартьянов, 2011; Коновалов, Валецкий, 2013; Печорский, 2013; Никитин, 2023; Наумов, 2023 и др.] с большей осторожностью подходят к оценке участия частных военных компаний в обеспечении безопасности в различных регионах мира и указывают на их нередко деструктивное влияние на процессы госстроительства в развивающихся странах. Следует отметить, что при наличии большого массива литературы, касающейся деятельности ЧВК в Ираке и Афганистане, особенности развития этого феномена на Африканском континенте пока не получили достаточного внимания российских африканистов. Используя комплексный подход к указанным процессам и явлениям, а также принципы сравнительного анализа данных и критической оценки информации авторы статьи постарались восполнить этот пробел.
3 «Наемники», «солдаты удачи», «псы войны» – так нередко называют сотрудников частных структур, предоставляющих военные и охранные услуги. Зачастую – в различных контекстах – эти и другие подобные обозначения имеют негативный оттенок, хотя мировым сообществом уже давно признано отличие бойцов зарегистрированных ЧВК от индивидуальных наемников, которые до сих пор существуют, но с трудом выдерживают конкуренцию с законными предприятиями. Более того, в последние два десятилетия ЧВК все чаще воспринимаются как «спасители» и «успешная альтернатива» регулярным армиям. Так или иначе, но приватизация услуг по обеспечению безопасности становится одним из главных трендов современности.
4 Использование западными (США, Великобритания и др.), как, впрочем, и региональными (ЮАР) «центрами силы» своих или транснациональных ЧВК в международных миссиях по обеспечению безопасности и для оказания военизированных (т.е. не для участия в вооруженных столкновениях напрямую, что запрещено законодательствами многих стран, а для вспомогательных действий) услуг наблюдалось в течение многих десятилетий, в т.ч. в Конго (нынешней Демократической Республике Конго, ДРК) и в Нигерии во время войны в Биафре уже в 1960-е гг. [Мазов, 2021]. Однако с особой интенсивностью «приглашение» ЧВК для работы в зонах нестабильности стало происходить с 1990-х гг., т.е. после окончания холодной войны, когда многие страны начали сокращать численность своих вооруженных сил (ВС), в результате чего образовалась огромная армия безработных военнослужащих, которым нужно было где-то применять свои навыки. Именно это и послужило толчком к созданию по всему миру большого числа частных военных/охранных структур.

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