Military Review English Edition May-June 2016 | Page 135

BOOK REVIEWS

readers will agree with certain theoretical aspects,
but most will find the discussion intellectually stimulating. Airpower practitioners and anybody involved
in strategic planning, from policymakers to warfight-

ers, are likely to consider it a must-read.
Maj. Ian Sherman, Australian Army,
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

OUTSOURCING SECURITY: Private
Military Contractors and U.S.
Foreign Policy
Bruce E. Stanley, Potomac Books as an imprint
of the University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln,
Nebraska, 2015, 198 pages

H

ow do privateers affect foreign policy? To
whom do they swear an oath? Who pays
them? Those questions come to mind about
private military contractors (PMCs) and private security contractors (PSCs) in twenty-first century conflicts. Outsourcing Security: Private Military Contractors
and U.S. Foreign Policy examines the growth of contracting organizations over the last two-and-a-half decades.
Those who wish to understand a framework for why
the U.S. government employs PMCs and PSCs should
read Bruce Stanley’s book. However, I caution those
wanting a political analysis of PMCs not to be misled
by the book’s title. Stanley deliberately does not provide
a significant amount of historical analysis.
Stanley argues the United States created a situation in which PMCs are used regularly because of
reduced troop levels. While his argument is valid, I
believe it would be stronger if he combined his hypothesis with an in-depth historical and political
analysis. Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm,
Joint Endeavor, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom
prove as the supply of available U.S. troops decreased,
there was a corresponding increase in PMCs to fill the
gap. Stanley provides a framework of the PMC community and analyzes each of the operations to show
the increased contractor use. I inferred the relevance
of statistics and tied their importance to larger foreign
policy questions, which is not a negative aspect, but my
conclusions could be much different from Stanley’s.
His book provides a comprehensive analysis of the
MILITARY REVIEW  May-June 2016

situation in which PMCs are empl oyed, but not of the
significance of that employment to foreign policy.
Stanley’s use of statistics creates an authoritative
tone, but his argument would be stronger if he incorporated an in-depth political or historical analysis.
While he gives strong evidence to prove his hypothesis, Stanley appears reluctant to address the effect of
contracting on foreign relations. While he does briefly
discuss the significance of the rise of PMCs, the discussion could have illustrated why the contractor industry grew in the first place. Stanley’s case studies begin
with Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, but
contractor usage by the United States did not begin
with those operations. His argument would be reinforced had he touched upon the political reasoning
behind policy decisions that brought about an increase
in PMCs over the last twenty-five years. Policymakers
could then use his framework to understand the development of the industry and how to regulate its future.
As a future combat leader, I want to know how
contractors will affect my soldiers and our mission.
Having read Stanley’s book, I have a level of certainty about when to expect a PMC to be used, but my
question for Stanley is, so what? What will an increase
in PMC use have on American foreign policy? For
the security community, to what extent do we allow
private contractors to shape American security policy?
Those questions are complicated, but they add to the
complexity of the twenty-first-century warfare my
generation will be fighting.

Cadet Casey McNicholas, U.S. Army Cadet
Command, Washington State University,
Pullman, Washington

81 DAYS BELOW ZERO: The
Incredible Story of a World War II
Pilot in Alaska’s Frozen Wilderness

Brian Murphy with Toula Vlahou, Da Capo Press,
Boston, 2015, 238 pages

A

mericans are enamored with survival stories.
Simply turn on your television and you are
inundated with reality shows tied to survival
(most very loosely). Consequently, when a book focuses
on a true story of survival, it is likely to appeal to a
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