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  • Private soldiers: Bullets for hire | The Economist
    http://www.economist.com/news/international/21566625-business-private-armies-not-only-growing-changing-shape-bullets-

    The industry’s growth has been paid for by Western governments, keen to limit the political cost of military boots on the ground. Supply has also come mostly from the West: 70% of firms are British or American. As the big conflicts of the past decade come to an end, however, private armies are beginning to chase new business, according to Sean McFate of America’s National Defence University. Industrial firms, which are increasingly setting up shop in unstable places, are expected to be a growing chunk of the customer base.
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    One company, in particular, is preparing for the change: Academi, an American private military giant (which, before it was sued over the death of 17 civilians in Iraq in 2007, carried the less silly moniker of Blackwater and in 2009-11 was called Xe Services). More than 90% of the firm’s business to date has come from governments, but it thinks that in the future half of its customers could be corporate. Among the early adopters are energy firms and a hotel chain. By the end of the year Academi expects to have opened a new “several thousand acre” training site, probably in east Africa, to help meet the changing demand.

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