Regulation of private military and security activities: a comparative analysis of the policies of international organizations and world powers

The article considers the regulation of private military and security activities. A comparative analysis of the policies of international organizations and world states is conducted. Private military and security activities are a very multifaceted, flexible and heterogeneous phenomenon of the system of international relations. Having conducted the research, it can be noted that when it comes to the interests of «strong» states (for example, the USA, Great Britain), private military and security activities appear as an instrument of policy in the hands of the state to a greater extent than as an independent and uncontrolled mechanism. Private military and security activities for the most part do not pose a threat to the national sovereignty of the state because to a large extent these activities depend on the interests of the state and the need to implement state interests with their help. When it comes to states with unstable statehood, weak institutions of power and social control (Afghanistan, Iraq, some countries of Africa and Latin America and others), private military and security activities become an actor capable of competing with the power institutions of such states in the field of security. The practice of regulating private military and security activities is developing at the national, regional, and now global levels, which indicates, firstly, the urgent need to regulate the status of private military and security activities from the point of view of international law, and secondly, the awareness of the significance of changing the perception of the private sphere of military-power business as an ordinary market for commercial services. The analyzed international initiatives, each designed in its own way to regulate the issue of the status of private military and security activities, are distinguished by the flexibility of their interpretations of this phenomenon, and they consider the interaction of PMCs not only with states and international organizations, but also include other actors of international relations interacting with private military and security activities in the regulatory orbit (the «Swiss Initiative»). However, none of the initiatives to date is either ideal or complete. Work on the accuracy of formulations and the accuracy of understanding of the phenomenon of private military and security activities continues and will eventually be reflected in documents.