Meeting Notes - August 21, 2009

A Workshop with the UN Working Group on Mercenaries

James Cockayne

On July 29, 2009, the International Peace Institute convened a meeting of civil society, academic, and industry representatives to meet with the United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the rights of peoples to self-determination.  

Policy Papers - March 13, 2009

Five Blueprints for Regulating the Global Security Industry

James Cockayne

This policy brief examines options for improving international regulation of private military and security companies (PMSCs).  

Conferences - October 24, 2007

Government Contracting of Private Military and Security Companies

IPI convened a retreat last week with the support of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Greentree Foundation to generate recommendations for states contracting private military and security companies. In the wake of the recent scandal around the alleged killing of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater contractors, it is becoming all too clear how contractor misconduct eventually comes back to hurt whoever is footing the bill. 

Policy Papers - March 14, 2006

Commercial Security in Humanitarian and Post-Conflict Settings: An Exploratory Study

James Cockayne

This exploratory study begins to describe the decentralized, ad hoc use of commercial security in these settings, in an attempt to provoke the further research and discussion needed before these questions can be adequately answered.