Mercenary intervention in Sierra Leone: providing national security or international exploitation?

This article critically examines the privatisation of security in the West African state of Sierra Leone. The focus on Sierra Leone brings to the fore the post-Cold War debate about the strategic impact of private military or mercenary companies in intra-state conflicts in Africa. It also raises the crucial issue of the link between low-intensity conflicts and strategic minerals and how neo-liberal globalisation forces have provided market opportunity for mercenary companies to fill the security vacuum created by collapsed states in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]