The Mercenary

Abstract Ever since the French Revolution and the rise of national armies, the mercenary has been viewed as a maligned and marginalized actor in International Relations. This book challenges this view, suggesting instead that while relegated to the periphery of great power competition, he remained a coercive instrument of state power who was willing to discreetly promote his client’s foreign policy when called upon to do so. Never has this been more evident than today. The start of the twenty-first century has seen renewed interest in the mercenary from across the political spectrum. The growing reliance by the USA, Russia, and China on military and security contractors suggests that the mercenary remains a key player in international politics, now emerging from the shadows to help expand state influence on the world stage by serving as an important actor in the conduct of conflict and the winning of small wars. Far from being marginalized, the twenty-first century mercenary has an increasingly active future both in overtly supporting the deployment of state military power, and in more opaque arenas of conflict or influence such as operations other than war.