Mercenaries and Security Contractors in the 21st Century The Past and Future of Private Force

Introduction 1. Mercenaries and Neomedievalism: From History to Historicity 2. Private Military Corporations and Military Contractors in the Chola Empire: Circa 800-Circa 1200 CE 3. Mercenaries in 14th-Century Europe: Crack troops or 'useless and dangerous'? 4. How Britain Socially Constructed Mercenaries: The Case of German Soldiers in British Service during the American War of Independence 5. The Market for Force in the United Arab Emirates's Network-centric Statecraft 6. Wagner Goes South: Russian Private Military Contractors in North Africa and the Sahel 7. Private Security in Colombia: The stabilisation of Medellin 8. China's Emerging Private Security Companies: Development, challenges, and future prospects 9. Varieties of Maritime Private Security: Commercial vessel protection off the Horn of Africa and in the Gulf of Guinea 10. Private Military Companies: Low-cost tools for power and status? 11. International Volunteers in the Ukraine War: Macro-level scripts and micro-level motivations 12. Representations of Soldiers of Fortune in Mexico and the Congo in American and European Cinema 13. Future Warfare between Privatization and Automation 14. Private Warriors for the Digital Age? The demand and supply of cybersecurity firms 15. Private Force in Africa: Reassessing regulatory frameworks and advocating for an African-centric approach to PMSCs Conclusion