According to ABC News, Privatized Security is growing at a rate of 7.4% a year and is projected to balloon to approximately $244 Billion in the global market by 2016. The US is the world’s biggest spender on private security totaling about $138 billion a year, most of which was spent on security in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2011, the US negotiated a private security deal for the US embassy in Iraq in order to protect the embassy from terrorist threats.

Outsourcing private security has several advantages. First, given that the military is spread thin, outsourcing allows for a better allocation of resources. It allows for the government to focus on the hottest zones and private security to nail down other areas where we need coverage, but possibly cannot spare soldiers (embassy protection is a great example). Second, outsourcing security empirically works. The industry is booming and has played a huge role in the last couple months in Afghanistan where conflicts have broken out. Another example is the Somali coast where currently 140 private companies are patrolling the waters thereby decreasing attacks. Bottom line: this is good. People are being protected and the government can target certain areas for our troops without having to worry about under covering non-war zones that still need protection.

Of course, there has been some alleged abuse by private security contractors, but this does not negate the overall efficacy of private security. Better defined domestic and international regulatory schemes as well as more accountability (possibly a reform of the Alien Tort Statute) could act as a check against this.