Peacekeeping should be privatised because private companies, military and otherwise, are more likely to foster peace and prosperity. Discuss.

 

The argument that “peacekeeping should be privatised because private companies, military and otherwise, are more likely to foster peace and prosperity” is true to some extent, however the form and extent of peace and prosperity must be measured against the legitimacy of private companies and the international atmosphere such a dimension of privatisation creates.

Bellamy and Williams in Understanding Peacekeeping illustrate the complexities of a privatised peacekeeping mission through the example of the international problem of Rwandan Refugees fleeing into Zaire after the 1994 genocide. Bellamy and Williams state that a private company offered to provide “training and logistical support” (Bellamy and Williams 2010: 327). However this offer was rejected, on the bases of high costs and principles. These principles on which privatisation were rejected can be assumed to be the weighty issues of sovereignty and representation. These issues are important to the functioning of the international community and should not be dismissed as irrelevant. However it is important to note that the UN did not send a peacekeeping force to Zaire at all. Rather than simply rejecting privatisation in favour of a UN lead force, a complete lack of action became the favourable alternative.



This active decision by the UN placed principles of sovereignty and representation above the possible effectiveness of private companies. However the effectiveness of the private companies should not be ignored simply in favour of abidance of international norms and expectations. It is argued that private companies have a greater interest in quick resolutions and establishment of peace because of their reliance on happy costumers. Singer gives the changing state of globalisation as a reason for a shift to privatisation, thus showing privatisation to be a type of evolution matching the evolution in globalisation (Singer 2001). The privatisation of peacekeeping creates a great inducement for the actors to achieve peace and prosperity.





Although the privatisation of peacekeeping can obtain results quicker than other forms of peacekeeping, it is debateable whether these benefits outweigh the costs to the public community, a loss in sovereignty and representation and a change in international norms.