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  • The Modern Mercenary

  • Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order
  • Written by: Sean McFate
  • Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
  • Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (10 ratings)

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The Modern Mercenary

Written by: Sean McFate
Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
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Publisher's Summary

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 US 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 US government and US 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.
©2014 Sean McFate (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

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Very Interesting Read

A very interesting look at the business of war.

Draws numerous case studies and parallels from the Middle Ages which I found to be tremendously interesting.

At times repetitive, but certainly worth your time if you have any interest in international affairs and the future of conflict.

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The book on Modern Mercking

End to end this book is THE book on who,what where,why,how and anything in between about the merc history and development as well as potential future trends of the industry. Excellent book and great narration. I highly recommend it for the ppl inclined to such subjects.

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Very interesting book on a timely subject

I loved how the author approached the subject, with facts, and little moralising. great book!

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1 person found this helpful