Outsourced Empire: How Militias, Mercenaries and Contractors Support US Statecraft

Description

The way that imperial power is enacted around the world today has changed, but it has received little attention. Outsourced Empire aims to change that, re-evaluating the history of empire from the Cold War to the present by looking at the influence of para-state actors. A para-state is a region that seeks or claims, but does not officially have, the status of an independent state. From the Guatemalan coup to the Bay of Pigs, from Syrian rebel factions to the Soviet-Afghan War, Andrew Thomson pulls together seemingly disparate events and groups to reveal the ways that para-states have become central to US imperialism, enabling the United States to influence political and economic conditions abroad in secret. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including US training manuals, CIA communiqués, and National Security Agency archives, Thomson reveals the hidden workings of contemporary empire.   Cover Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms Introduction 1. US Imperial Statecraft and Para-Institutional Forces 2. Covert Regime Change in the Early Cold War: "Power Moves Involved in the Overthrow of an Unfriendly Government" 3. Counterinsurgent Statecraft: Militias, Mercenaries, and Contractors 4. Reagan, Low-Intensity Conflict, and the Expansion of Para-Institutional Statecraft 5. Continuity After the Cold War and the Consolidation of Para-Institutional Complexes 6. The War on Terror, Irregular Warfare, and the Global Projection of Force Conclusions Notes Index