Politics & Governance / International Politics / International Organizations & Multilateralism

The UN's Secret Army: How Mercenaries Took Over Peacekeeping

UN Use of Private Military and Security Companies: Practices and Policy

Ase Gilje Ostensen

When picturing global peacekeeping, neutral blue helmets and diplomatic convoys immediately come to mind. Look just outside the camera frame, however, and a shocking reality emerges: corporate mercenaries carrying assault rifles under the United Nations flag. Based on the groundbreaking report "UN Use of Private Military and Security Companies: Practices and Policy" by Dr. Ase Gilje Ostensen, a leading security scholar at the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), this presentation pulls back the curtain on the hidden militarization of global diplomacy. Dr. Ostensen's investigation reveals how an institution dedicated to world peace systematically outsourced its core functions to profit-driven corporations. Key revelations uncovered: - The 2009 tipping point: For the first time in history, the UN spent more money buying commercial services than physical supplies like food and medicine. - Aid agencies with private armies: Organizations like UNICEF, WFP, and UNHCR bypass paralyzed internal security channels to directly contract multi-million-dollar private security firms. - Ghost police forces: Why nations like the United States rely entirely on private defense contractors to recruit, train, and deploy international peacekeepers. - Accountability black holes: From holding elections in Afghanistan to defending compounds in DR Congo, corporate contractors wield massive political influence, sometimes even funneling security payrolls to hostile warlords. Understand how modern peacekeeping transformed into a privatized marketplace and why global diplomacy may never be truly neutral again.