Buy used: $19.01

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Tuesday, August 15 on orders shipped by Amazon over $25

Or fastest delivery Friday, August 11. Order within 14 hrs 52 mins

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by SimplyyQuality

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

See all 2 images

Follow the Author

Sean McFate

The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order 1st Edition

by Sean McFate (Author)

4.2 215 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$11.49

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$19.01

$66.00

$15.06

Paperback

"Please retry"

$18.55

$15.94

$10.66

Kindle
$11.49 Read with Our Free App
Hardcover
$19.01

12 Used from $15.06 1 New from $66.00
Paperback
$10.80 - $18.55

8 Used from $10.66 23 New from $15.94

It was 2004, and Sean McFate had a mission in Burundi: to keep the president alive and prevent the country from spiraling into genocide, without anyone knowing that the United States was involved. The United States was, of course, involved, but only through McFate's employer, the military
contractor DynCorp International. Throughout the world, similar scenarios are playing out daily. The United States can no longer go to war without contractors. Yet we don't know much about the industry's structure, its operations, or where it's heading. Typically led by ex-military men, contractor
firms are by their very nature secretive. Even the U.S. government-the entity that actually pays them-knows relatively little.

In The Modern Mercenary, Sean McFate lays bare this opaque world, explaining the economic structure of the industry and showing in detail how firms operate on the ground. A former U.S. Army paratrooper and private military contractor, McFate provides an unparalleled perspective into the nuts and
bolts of the industry, as well as a sobering prognosis for the future of war. While at present, the U.S. government and U.S. firms dominate the market, private military companies are emerging from other countries, and warlords and militias have restyled themselves as private security companies in
places like Afghanistan and Somalia. To understand how the proliferation of private forces may influence international relations, McFate looks back to the European Middle Ages, when mercenaries were common and contract warfare the norm. He concludes that international relations in the twenty-first
century may have more in common with the twelfth century than the twentieth. This "back to the future" situation, which he calls "neomedievalism," is not necessarily a negative condition, but it will produce a global system that contains rather than solves problems.

The Modern Mercenary is the first work that combines a broad-ranging theory of the phenomenon with an insider's understanding of what the world of the private military industry is actually like.

ISBN-10

0199360103
ISBN-13

978-0199360109
Edition

1st
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

January 2, 2015
Language

English
Dimensions

9.2 x 1 x 6.4 inches
Print length

272 pages
See all details

Most purchasedin this set of products
Sean McFate
507
Paperback
$13.69
Lowest Pricein this set of products
Sean Mcfate
405
Paperback
$9.49
Highest ratedin this set of products
Robert B. Zoellick
217
Paperback
$16.99
This item:
Sean McFate
215
Hardcover
13 offers from $15.06
P. W. Singer
146
Paperback
$12.95
Jeremy Scahill
1,011
Paperback
$11.34
Barry Davies
49
Paperback
$16.99
Simon Chase
624
Paperback
$12.99
Erik Prince
1,333
Hardcover
$18.29
Suzanne Simons
77
Paperback
$14.75

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sean McFate is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, an Associate Professor at the National Defense University, and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. Previously, he lived and worked in Africa for DynCorp International, a company that
provides international security services. He was also an officer and paratrooper in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (January 2, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0199360103
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199360109
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.07 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.2 x 1 x 6.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,048,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #235 in Arms Control (Books)
- #649 in International Diplomacy (Books)
- #8,696 in American Military History

Customer Reviews:
4.2 215 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Sean McFate

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

I’ve been a paratrooper in the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. A para-military contractor. An operative in the private intelligence world (think: Wall Street meets CIA). I’ve dealt with African warlords, raised armies for U.S. interest, rode with armed groups in the Sahara, conducted strategic reconnaissance for oil companies, transacted arms deals in Eastern Europe, and helped prevent an impending genocide in the Rwanda region. In between this, I earned degrees from Brown, Harvard, and a PhD from the London School of Economics.

Now I’m an author, my favorite job by far. I write about the world as I’ve witnessed it. Unlike most, I write both serious non-fiction and fiction. What I can’t discuss in my non-fiction ends up in my novels, which are like Tom Clancy for the 2020s.

You can learn more about me here http://www.seanmcfate.com and you can follow me on twitter or Instagram @seanmcfate. I appreciate your support, and answer emails from readers.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

215 global ratings

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Medieval mercenaries come back to life

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2020

Verified Purchase

The author has been an officer in the 82nd Airborne, has a Ph.D from the London School of Economics, teaches at the National Defense University and has been a mercenary, so he knows what he's talking about. I have the paperback which has 168 pages excluding some detailed annexes with contracts, footnotes, etc. The Ph.D background is important because the book has a detailed history of the prior use of mercenaries over the millenia and particularly the Middle Ages.

Fundamentally he argues that private armies, mercenary forces and the like were common until the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, after which the use of force was increasingly arrogated to forces raised by states, culminating in World War 1 and World War II, which represent the apogee of this system. I'll let the author speak for himself: "Now the situation is changing back. The growing willingness to employ private force and subsequent erosion of the taboo against mercenarism signal a return to the premodern norm of medieval times...." Pg. 6.

How did this happen? The book explores the U.S. employment of private security forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Surely this escaped the notice of the Unites State, didn't it? The book notes: "In a widely distributed memorandum, Secretary of Defense Bob Gates confirms that the number of contractors in war zones 'well exceeded' military personnel and added, 'I do not expect this to change now or in future contingency operations.'" Pg. 22. "The US penchant to lean on the private sector in war has produced the modern mercenary. Half of the country's military force structure was contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan and, short of conscription, it is unlikely that the superpower could have sustained two multiyear wars without them." Pg. 25.

The book explores the use of private force in the Middle Ages, debunks the concept that the Middle Ages were "dark" and unenlightened as we are today. Unfortunately, perpetual war creates the market for force. The book observes: "...when a policy is politically too riske, outsourcing it to the private sector offers employers a layer of plausible deniability in the event of failure." Pg. 55.Thus, it becomes "more tempting to go to war". Id.

The author doesn't believe that all uses of mercenaries are morally repugnant, but he does recognize that the use of private parties to kill raises significant moral issues. The book has examples of these committed both by state actors and mercenaries.

Towards the end of the book, he considers some actions that might work to ameliorate some of the more troubling aspects of the growth of mercenarism in the 21st century. As I look more broadly, I see signs that the dominance of the state which prevailed in the 20th century is fading and conditions more common in the Middle Ages seem to be arising. Exxon Mobil is mentioned as a party that used private force in the 20th century. What happens if Facebook, Amazon, Google and others use it in the 21st century. I recommend the book highly. The old becomes new and understanding the old becomes key to understanding the present.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

History repeats itself and so does this poorly edited book.

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

The author clearly has a wealth of first-hand experience, and he is also knowledgeable about relevant mercenary stories from the distant past. Unfortunately, several of his key points and comparisons are repeated almost verbatim throughout the work. It’s an important book, and McFate’s historical lens is useful, but the poor organization undermines the author’s credibility. His contemporary comparisons also leave many questions unanswered.

McFate relies heavily on contrasting his personal experience in Liberia with America’s ongoing problems in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also uses Liberia and Somalia to contrast potential futures for the world with private military. The problem with placing too much weight on these comparisons should be obvious: each country has a different history with unique cultural and political dynamics. However military contractors are used, that’s only one variable in these huge international projects. They are useful as examples and case studies, but it’s easy to overreach when drawing conclusions.

We’re not the mercenaries - those guys are the mercenaries. Private military contractors are understandably miffed by the media and outsider tendency to paint the entire industry as “mercenaries.” Early reports about this industry were misleading and sensational. Unfortunately, this book seems to fall into a similar trap. The smaller contractors from other countries are the ones we can freely malign as mercenaries, apparently, even if they are fighting in their own countries.

I will recommend this book to friends, especially my friends in international development. While the repetition is frustrating and I question some of the author’s conclusions, McFate does provide a useful historical lens for understanding this important global trend.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Pete K.

Military Security Contractors in detail: A Western World Perspective

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2022

Verified Purchase

I have the paperback version which shows the publishing year of 2014, as of 2022 the contemporary information contained is outdated and focuses specifically on armed military contractors being deployed by the U.S. and its allies. This book does not cover the development of a hybrid model of warfare as used by Russia with the Wagner Group in Syria, Ukraine, and Africa. This book does not discuss the asymmetrical warfare model used by Iran, and the employment of proxy forces (though not strictly mercenaries) as an extension of the Iranian power sphere in the Middle East. By 2015 the model of armed American contractors patrolling streets in Iraq and Afghanistan was obsolete, or non-existent. There were armed contractors in Afghanistan after 2014, but their roles were limited to Coalition base security and diplomatic site security. Some groups of armed contractors who were training local nationals (ANP, ANSF) were permitted to carry weapons while traveling outside of Coalition bases but this was highly controlled. As a general history of mercenaries, this book provides a long-winded "dawn of time" analysis but does not hold up as a contemporary reference for how mercenary forces are used today.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

daniel Froese

Insightful and interesting

Reviewed in Canada on February 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

A very interested book. I thought this would be explaining more of a day to day business approach to mercenaries but this delves into more of a political science perspective on the use of force outside the monopoly of the state. Very interesting and relevant to current world. I would recommend this book.

3 people found this helpful

Beau Brummell

Super book.

Reviewed in Italy on January 27, 2023

Verified Purchase

Gives a full bean service. Dry as a camel's tit, but highly informative.

Dr Danczak

Return of Hawkwood?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

There is a key page in this book introducing the concept of neo medievalism, as coined by Hedley Bull. There are five essential tests, which at the end of the Cold War, did not apply but with the advance of technology, overarching institutions like NGO, UN, the breakdown of states often covered by the creation of supra state organisations giving cover to devolving and decentralising state powers and the return of private violence/mercenary armies which is consistent with disengagement of some states eg US from collectives and the assumptions of single state actions.

This book should be read in conjunction with McFates Goliath to gain a full oversight.

Save the Planet. Stop Climate Change!

dry but important

Reviewed in Germany on April 26, 2015

Verified Purchase

The reemergence of a private military industry and its wider implications are the subject of this book. According to the author's thesis, the return of private warfare is a harbinger of a transformation of the world order from state-centrism to a multipolar system which is not state-centric and characterized by overlapping authorities and allegiances.
Being both a veteran of the private military industry and a competent scholar, the author was uniquely qualified to write this book whose claims are well-supported by facts and clear thinking. To me, it was a dry and at times tedious read, but as a thorough and sophisticated treatment of an important subject I highly recommend this book.

One person found this helpful

Readford Geddes

Great book

Reviewed in Germany on April 28, 2020

Verified Purchase

This is the second book I have bought by this author, he has been around the block and now in the world of the academic. I find his books cover very interesting subject matter really bringing the subject to life and drawing comparisons to illustrate. I bought the second book because even though author in academic world he writes in a very easy to understand way that really gets the message over even on a dry subject without being boring. I am nearly finished this book and ready to look for next option.

See more reviews

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Books, art & collectibles	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Sell on Amazon Start a Selling Account

Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	Amazon Fresh Groceries & More Right To Your Door	AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Experienced Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Ignite Sell your original Digital Educational Resources	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics	DPReview Digital Photography	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting

Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime	Prime Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy

Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Amazon Warehouse Great Deals on Quality Used Products	Whole Foods Market America’s Healthiest Grocery Store	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Zappos Shoes & Clothing	Ring Smart Home Security Systems

eero WiFi Stream 4K Video in Every Room	Blink Smart Security for Every Home	Neighbors App Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts	Amazon Subscription Boxes Top subscription boxes – right to your door	PillPack Pharmacy Simplified	Amazon Renewed Like-new products you can trust

Follow the Author

The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order 1st Edition

What do customers buy after viewing this item?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product details

Videos

Important information

About the author

Sean McFate

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries