The Afghanistan War’s Legacy: The Reimagining of the Outsourcing of War and Security

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X221101340
• Author: Ori Swed
• Date: 01 October 2023
• Subject Matter: Commentaries

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X221101340

Armed Forces & Society

2023, Vol. 49(4) 1027 –1034

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/0095327X221101340

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Commentary

The Afghanistan War’s

Legacy: The Reimagining

of the Outsourcing of

War and Security

Ori Swed1

Abstract

The two decades of war in Afghanistan left a mark on the American armed forces

and redefined the American ways of war-making. One of this war’s legacies is the

reimagining of the role of private military and security contractors in contemporary

warfare. Due to the massive involvement of the private sector in the American

war machine, this industry transformed from a marginal participant into a central

partner. The privatization of military and security functions became a norm, an

integral part of security architecture and military operation. In this study, I provide

a brief review of this development and its implications.

Keywords

private military and security companies, privatization, Afghanistan war, U.S. military,

military outsourcing, outsourcing

The war in Afghanistan is not only the longest war in American history, but also,

along with its sister war in Iraq, has been fundamental in reinventing the role of

contractors in contemporary security and war-making. The level of private military

and security companies’ (PMSCs) participation in those conflicts has been

1Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA

Corresponding Author:

Ori Swed, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University, Holden

Hall 158, 2500 Broadway Avenue, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA.

Email: ori.swed@ttu.edu

1101340AFSXXX10.1177/0095327X221101340Armed Forces & SocietySwed

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