Notes on the New Mercenaries
Amidst the most important conflict of the century very little has been said of the changing nature of war and the warrior. These notes form the basis of an essay on the rise of mercenary groups and private military contractors, of particular interest is how the new mercenary groups herald the wars to come.
Special thanks to @NicoKonservativ and @solar_principle on twitter for the suggestions.
What is behind the rise of private military contractors and mercenary groups? Some preliminary thoughts from a theological perspective:
- The private militaries are first of all a response to the worker-soldier, the soldier as technician.
- As a sign of pure conflict and escalating world tensions that the democratic class of soldiers will neither be able to resolve nor endure, the mercenary groups dominate where cold and revolutionary warfare ends.
- With the blurring of the lines between soldier and civilian a new type of warrior develops with criminality as the foremost question. Just War is replaced with the universal, the merciless, and the non-rule. The mercenary has the necessary character for such war.
- The battlefields are now part of the world civil war, as such the non-national presence increases.
- The mercenary follows the partisan and the rise of jihadist groups; at first he neutralizes and coordinates with them, and then he replaces them.
- Again following the partisan, and total mobilisation which precedes it, the modern battlefield depends on irregularity, mobility, political engagement, and telluric character
- Non-classical space changes logistic and strategic concerns, what Schmitt calls permeable layers increases the non-national character of war and the need for increased mobilisation, infiltration, and swarming manoeuvres. A new figure of war, as well as a new era, depend on a change in these characteristics.
- Police forces and military forces appear in a mixed state in this new territory. At the same time, peacekeeping becomes less significant, or even represents a danger. The wars of the great spaces now take on a quality of dissolution.
- Gray zones are perhaps less significant than black zones, not being noticed at all.
- Such forces allow permanent warfare, even open admission of the world civil war, without alerting anti-war sentiments.
- The use of contractors and militants by NATO ended whatever legitimacy the United Nations still had, in turn private forces must develop around the world to counteract the new threat - they are thus a part of a new arms race.
- It is also important that values like loyalty decline, which leads to mercenaries who don't fight for a distinct nation or purpose.1
- One may see the intelligence agency conflicts as antiquated or exceeding limits, they become open battles along with the increasing dangers of fifth-generation warfare. The contractors are a form of hidden in plain sight cryptography developing as open warfare.
- The rise of private military employed by governments is indicative of the fracturing of government amongst various factions as well as fearing popular rebellion as you wouldn't arm and train people you are looking to abuse.2
- The contractors can skirmish outside of international law, but they also limit the possibility of nuclear war.
Thanks to @NicoKonservativ for this note.
Suggested by @solar_principle on twitter, referencing Machiavelli’s The Prince.