Documents found
-
272.More information
The multiplication of the private military and security companies as well as their increasing presence in war zones are raising numerous questionings beyond the (complex) subject of the status of these companies within the humanitarian international law. We shall here try to determine the impact of this "privatization of war" on the evolution of the public international law and, quite particularly, on the international humanitarian law. More precisely, can we assume that the international humanitarian law will gradually conform to the requirements of a market of war? In this respect, we shall here try to demonstrate that the commercial logic which presently prevails regarding the regulation of these companies is part of a historic course, inside of which the private actors present in war zones were granted a fluctuating legitimacy. This paper will be divided into three sections. Firstly, we will examine the presence of private actors within armed conflicts in a historical perspective in order to bring to light the relative novelty of the idea of the State's monopoly on legitimate violence. Secondly, we shall analyze the underlying causes of the appearance and the following multiplication of the private military and security companies, as well as their status within the international humanitarian law. Lastly, we will present a reflection on the impact of the "privatization of war" on the public international law and, more precisely, on the international humanitarian law.