Servants of War

Private military firms are making a killing. They operate on all continents throughout the world—commissioned by governments, intelligence agencies, private industries, warlords, drug cartels, and rebel groups to support their military and safety interests. Here in the U.S., as the massively expensive war in Iraq shows no signs of ending, our forces grow more and more dependent on the assistance of military contractors. Beyond Iraq, engagements of mercenary firms in foreign countries are multiplying, whether to protect oil investments in the Nigerian delta or for humanitarian reasons in Darfur. In this far-reaching exposé, Rolf Uesseler reveals how these mercenary firms profit from conflict: As they operate in a legal twilight zone, the private nature of their work frequently makes them legally impermeable and financially profitable. Uesseler details the many ways in which employment of for-profit fighters compromises justice, jeopardizes international peace and stability, and manages to escape public scrutiny, explaining exactly what happens when military operations are shielded from democratic processes, and when the concern for justice and security is overshadowed by the desire for financial gain.Rolf Uesseler was a German journalist and the author of Servants of War: Private Military Corporations and the Profit of Conflict. He died in 2012.

Jefferson Chase is a writer and journalist based in Berlin. He has translated more than a dozen German texts into English, among them works by Thomas Mann, Wolfgang Schivelbusch and Götz Aly.