Browsing by Author "Leach, Jonathan"

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    Private Military Force as strategy to counter hybrid threats
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Leach, Jonathan; Esterhuyse, Abel J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science. School for Security and Africa Studies: Military Strategy.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Today, the international community faces a diffuse, shifting, and controversial set of security challenges. On the one hand, hybrid warfare creates both conceptual and strategic challenges, as various aspects of strategy constitute legally prohibited forms of intervention against hybrid threats. On the other hand, the partitions inherent in the modern strategic landscape can be described as decidedly anti-strategic; where the use of conventional military force is constantly being delegitimised, criticised, and in more extreme cases, criminalised. This has resulted in an increasing disconnect between the political intentions of states and the strategic effect of their armed forces, particularly when facing strategic problems characterised by hybridity. Although the employment of private military forces is almost universally condemned, these forces have often played crucial roles in conflicts, and today impact both the process and outcomes of conflicts due to the unique capabilities they offer. As such, this study researches the notion of private military force as strategy to counter hybrid threats. Underlying the aim of this research are the following questions: is the notion of private military force a strategic concept? Why employ private military force as strategy to counter hybrid threats and how to employ private military force as strategy to counter hybrid threats? The findings reached from this study suggest that if private military forces are theoretically and contextually coherent, scaled according to suggested internal and external constraints, and employed in pursuit of threats characterised by hybridity, then private military force as strategy to counter hybrid threats is a compelling notion. This study relies on unobtrusive, qualitative content analysis on secondary sources of literature. Data collection is systematic by means of thorough examination; it is evidence-based and presented in an unbiased manner. Literature sources include official publications, scholarly literature on the subject, books, and media reporting.