White-Collar Warfare: Private Security Firms and the Corporate Combat Zone

Open to the Public

Date: Thu, Feb 9, 2006 Time: 12:15pm - 02:00pm Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369

The unprecedented increase in the U.S. government's use of Private Security Firms (PSFs) in combat zones has begun to impose significant strategic, operational, and economic constraints on the conduct of war. While the existing literature on PSFs is preoccupied by the industry's unique lack of accountability—to the legal system, to Congress, to the public, and even to the Pentagon—this project seeks to demonstrate that the industry's biggest liability may turn out to be what is claimed to be its primary advantage: efficiency. In short, the PSF industry's supporters and its fiercest critics share an assumption: that military contractors allow for a forceful foreign policy on the cheap and quiet. In reality, however, contractors come with considerable strings attached, and these strings can prove costly and cumbersome.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided.

Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.