TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - To escalate, or not to escalate? Private military and security companies and conflict severity
JO  - Studies in conflict and terrorism
A1  - Lees, Nicholas
A1  - Petersohn, Ulrich
SP  - 2622
EP  - 2645
VL  - 46
IS  - 12
N2  - The existing literature is unclear about whether private military and security companies (PMSCs) are a cause of increased conflict severity, or rather are simply hired within more severe conflicts. We argue that PMSCs do increase conflict severity, yet this is the result of an escalation strategy by states to regain territory from rebels. If contracted, PMSCs either substitute for host nation forces, or free up such conventional forces to engage in offensive operations. In both cases the conflict severity increases substantially. This argument is tested with OLS regression using data from 30 weak states from 1990 to 2007.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1057-610X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2021.1935700
ID  - ref1
ER  -