Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-237) and index.

Peace through profit motive? -- Understanding the private military industry -- A codependency problem -- How did we get here? -- Why private armies have returned -- The murky side of private force -- The modern world order: a brief history -- Neomedievalism -- Neomedieval warfare -- Military enterprisers in Liberia: building better armies -- Mercenaries in Somalia: a neomedieval tale -- Medieval modernity.

"In The Modern Mercenary, Sean McFate lays bare this opaque world, explaining the economic structure of the industry and showing in detail how firms operate on the ground. A former U.S. Army paratrooper and private military contractor, McFate provides an unparalleled perspective into the nuts and bolts of the industry, as well as a sobering prognosis for the future of war. While at present, the U.S. government and U.S. firms dominate the market, private military companies are emerging from other countries, and warlords and militias have restyled themselves as private security companies in places like Afghanistan and Somalia. To understand how the proliferation of private forces may influence international relations, McFate looks back to the European Middle Ages, when mercenaries were common and contract warfare the norm. He concludes that international relations in the twenty-first century may have more in common with the twelfth century than the twentieth. This "back to the future" situation, which he calls "neomedievalism," is not necessarily a negative condition, but it will produce a global system that contains rather than solves problems" -- Publisher's description.