Private Military & Security Companies in International Relations - lecture

Dr. Sean McFate leads a lecture detailing the growth of PMSCs in recent decades and what their prominence could mean for the future. Private Military & Security Companies (PMSCs) occupy a number of diverse roles within the security sector, with their services being contracted by both private and public entities for the purposes of intelligence, security, and analysis. With the growing presence of PMSCs in conflict/post-conflict zones around the world, there is a need to critically assess the role that these private entities play in global governance and the potential benefits and harms they may offer. This lecture is based around this topic with the goal of educating attendees on the basics of private military & security companies and the role they play within the current international system. Dr. Sean McFate is a foreign policy expert, author and novelist. He is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington DC think tank, and a professor of strategy at the National Defense University and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Additionally, he serves as an Advisor to Oxford University’s Centre for Technology and Global Affairs.