Hi all--
The news of Blackwater's contract renewal has once again raised concerns about the lack of oversight on private military firms. Whether regarding the contract employees themselves, or the companies who pay them, there has been little success is creating legal mechanisms to govern the growing number of private military personnel.
This diary is some research I did on the matter addressing oversight efforts on the international, regional, and state levels. It was written about a year ago but little has changed. So I hope it provides you with a little more history, context, and understanding of what has and hasn't been tried.
(Warning: it's LONG -- but I recommend at least reading the bibliography, which I'll post immediately after since the formatting kills my footnotes anyway. Hopefully someone still comes to Kos for something other than pithy candidate diaries...)
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