The way war is waged is evolving quickly—igniting the rise of private military contractors that offer military-style services as part of their core business model. Arduino unpacks the tradeoffs involved when conflict is increasingly waged not by national armies, but by professional outfits that thrive on chaos. This book charts the rise of private military actors from Russia, China, and the Middle East using primary source data, in-person interviews, and field research amongst operations in conflict zones around the world. Individual stories narrated by mercenaries, military trainers, security businessmen, hackers, and drone pilots will be used to introduce the beginning of each chapter. The book ends by considering today’s trajectories in the deployment of mercenaries by state, corporations, or even terrorist organizations and what it will mean for the future of conflict.
The book follows private security contractors that take on missions in different countries with a variety of challenges. These include a former Singaporean commando working with a Chinese company in Kabul, a former British Royal Marine leading a Kurdish private military company in Erbil protecting BP’s oil, and a former Russian Spetsnaz defending commercial vessels from the Somali coast to the Gulf of Guinea.
Aside from the human component, the book closely follows the trends in the adoption of unmanned lethal weapons and it peeks into the future of weapons that can decide autonomously to kill humans. One chapter is dedicated to loitering munitions, better known as suicide drones, used by Israel and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard for remote-controlled assassination. ISIS’s reengineered Chinese DJI commercial drones that are used for propaganda operations or as advanced artillery spotters complete the picture of the range of threats the world will routinely face in less than a decade.
First-hand data and intimate knowledge of the actors involved in the market for force allow a fully grounded narrative with personal input. Through this prism, the reader gains an understanding of the human, security, and political risks that are part of this industry. The book specifically reveals the risk that unaccountable mercenaries pose in increasing the threshold for conflict, the threat to traditional military forces, the corruption in political circles, and the rising threat of proxy conflicts in the US rivalry with China and Russia.
In a nutshell, the book gazes into the crystal ball to forecast what the future might look like in a world ruled by private armies.
By:
Alessandro Arduino
Foreword by:
Dr. Sean McFate professor of strategy Na
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 237mm,
Width: 160mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 562g
ISBN: 9781538170311
ISBN 10: 1538170310
Pages: 302
Publication Date: 15 October 2023
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Chapter 1: Private Armies Chapter 2: From Russia with Love: Mercenaries Fit the Bill Chapter 3: Russian Grey Is the New Black Chapter 4: Mercenaries' Russian Roulette Chapter 5: Private Security with Chinese Characteristics: No More Local Guards, Not Yet Wolf Warriors Chapter 6: Defending the Belt and Road Initiative from Africa to the Middle East Chapter 7: How China Sees Its Own Private Security Sector Chapter 8: The Evolution of a New Chinese Security Actor Chapter 9: Turkey's New Janissaries Chapter 10: Drone Mercenaries: A New Security Paradigm from China, Russia, and Turkey Chapter 11: Drone Warfare: Lessons Learned? Chapter 12: Drone Casus Belli Chapter 13: Cyber Mercenaries: From Boots on the Ground to the Metaverse Chapter 14: Two Opposites: None-Combatant Contractors and Jihadist Mercenaries Chapter 15: Mercenaries, PMSCs, and the Future of Warfare Appendix I: From Mercenary to Cyber-Mercenary: A Timeline Appendix II: The Duma and Russian PMSCs Appendix III: The Evolution of Chinese Private Security Laws and Regulations and the Data Security Law Notes Bibliography Index
Dr. Alessandro Arduino has two decades of experience in China encompassing risk analysis and crisis management, focusing on Belt & Road Initiative security, cyber security, private military and security companies, combat UAVs, and China’s political economy in Africa, Middle East, and Central Asia. He is a consultant to several organizations on security, risk assessment, and mitigation. Arduino is a principal research fellow at the Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore, co-director of the Security & Crisis Management International Centre at the Shanghai Academy of Social Science, and an affiliate at the Lau China Institute, King’s College London. Arduino is the author of several books, including Securing the Belt and Road Initiative and China’s Private Army. Protecting the New Silk Road, and he has published papers and commentaries in various journals in Italian, English and Chinese languages. He has been appointed Knight of the Order of the Italian Star by the President of the Italian Republic.
Reviews for Money for Mayhem: Mercenaries, Private Military Companies, Drones, and the Future of War
Money for Mayhem is a very timely and exceptionally important contribution to today's understanding of the new wave of private military contractors in armed conflicts globally. A must-read for a better understanding of the trends, challenges, and possible solutions to manage the impact and fallout of the activities of these private actors. Move over Blackwater and Eric Prince. Russian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern mercenaries and private armies demand their share of the pie. That is the story of Money for Mayhem. With unique access, Alessandro Arduino weaves a tale that is must-reading for understanding the way warfare is evolving with mercenaries, private armies, and technological innovation taking centerstage. Security consultant Arduino debuts with an exhaustive examination of governments' increasing reliance on mercenaries, arguing that a new 'anarchy' is taking hold internationally.... He covers major state players in the mercenary market, including the U.S., China, Russia, and Turkey, and describes the typical uses for mercenaries, including operating as private security contractors, aiding citizens during natural disasters, and maintaining 'plausible deniability' in foreign military engagements. Arduino discusses each country's history with mercenaries, assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the available troops, and highlights unique issues such as China's problem with impostors--mercenaries who falsely identify themselves as former Gurkhas or Mossad agents.... He also addresses new developments in warfare, mainly cyberattacks and drone assassinations, that further obfuscate just who is fighting whom, and which are increasingly outsourced to contractors.... Readers will be intrigued to learn about this understudied phenomenon. The most consequential book I've read in some time about mercenaries. Arduino lays out many of the actors and why they fight, and his knowledge of China's emerging private security industry is second to none. This is an important and timely book on an emerging issue. China is now a major player in foreign investment, regularly in places with considerable risk. It is no surprise that private security is part of this, but high standards and professionalism are key to avoid reputational risk.
