Fortune's Warriors: Private Armies and the New World Order [Paperback]

James R. Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2002

From West Africa to the former Yugoslavia, in every global hot spot a private army waits, ready to step into the fray. Professional soldiers of fortune have always existed--but now they're on the brink of playing a new role in world affairs. A former mercenary takes a hard look at the conflicts presently raging, contrasting the success of these armies in achieving peace with the often inept and confused actions of the United Nations. A sure-to-be controversial account.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Originally published in hardcover in Canada in 2000, this paperback edition has not been altered. The author is a veteran of the Canadian armed forces. His experiences as a U.N. peacekeeper in Africa and former Yugoslavia are discussed in his first book, The Sharp End: A Canadian Soldier's Story. Davis brings American readers a "fresh" perspective from a Canadian viewpoint. Here is the shadowy world of soldiers-for-hire and the multibillion-dollar international security industry that needs these "specialists" to deal with political and economic hot spots. Not too long ago the "dogs of war," or mercenaries, had their run of colonial conflicts in Africa and more recently in the former Yugoslavia. Davis goes behind the headlines and describes how "clients" are matched and assisted by "security consulting firms." The book is more political than historical in focus, and Davis analyzes his experiences in Sierra Leone in some detail. The book also dwells on the mechanics of setting up an operation. The author is quite frank when he discusses the failures of a number of U.N. peacekeeping missions. Recommended for the quality of its content and analysis, this book may not be an essential purchase for general school and public collections, but it may find an audience with those readers who enjoy politics, intrigue, and military history. David M. Alperstein, Queens Borough P.L., Jamaica, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre (May 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550548883
• ISBN-13: 978-1550548884
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,123,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book about a timely subject, December 16, 2002

By 

Joshua Heatwole (Dumfries, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fortune's Warriors: Private Armies and the New World Order (Paperback)

Fortune's Warriors is an incredibly insightful look into a growing industry that will only increase in relevance with our world's uncertain future. The subject is former military veterans, most of them coming from Special Operations units of western countries, that hire themselves out to foreign goverments.

The general population, largely ignorant on the subject, would quickly label them as mercenaries, but for the first time I've ever seen in any book, the author takes a hard analytical look at exactly what that term really means in comparison to the images it conjures when formulating world opinion.

A mercenary could very well be a sociopathic criminal thrill seeker, looking for a way to satisfy a delusional urge. In this day and age, however, he's more likely to be a former professional soldier, helping to stabilize a region and protecting non-government aid organizations to distribute needed supplies and medical care to war torn areas of the world. The mercenary could very well be a professional soldier within a western military force, such as the French Foreign Legion. If anything, this book shows that the word mercenary does not have a cut and dried definition.

This particular industry ranges from companies that simply compile risk analysis reports on various areas of questionable stability, to former soldiers who train foreign militaries, all the way down to the Private Military Coporation, who will come in to fight your war for you, provided you are recognized in the international community as a legitmate goverment.

The book also talks about the troubled history that these security companies have with different parts of the UN, and how regulation and policy that might be set by the UN requires a closer look.

The book is full of real world examples, most of them taken from the tragic and war torn Sierra Leone. It describes how a South African based Private Military Company called Executive Outcomes was able to come in and assist the government in surpressing an extremely violent and brutal rebel movement. The rebels had tortured civilians, cutting off villager's limbs was almost a form of recreation for them, and EO managed to come in and restore order in a matter of weeks. The villagers welcomed them in the streets, and even the usually pacifist NGO workers had to acknowledge their positive presence. The true tragedy of the story lies in the protests made through the UN, and EO had to leave, which plunged the country right back into chaos.

In a more uncertain world where western militaries are spread more and more thin, this subject deserves much more attention then it recieves. In many cases, the men who are Fortune's Warriors could very well be their only hope.