I contributed a chapter, along with my co-author Angela McIntyre, to the book “Weak Governments in Search of Strength: Africa’s experience of mercenaries and private military companies”, edited by Simon Chesterman and Chia Lenhardt, From Mercenaries to Market: The Rise and Regulation of Private Military Companies, London: Oxford University Press, 2007. The book is available in paperback on Amazon.com.

The chapter seeks to illustrate change and continuity in the use of private force on the African continent, and argues that Private Military Companies (PMCs) are sometimes used to safeguard commercial interests that are the very source of discontent in local politics, leading to complications in regulation at the nexus of states, multinational corporations, and exploitation of natural resources.