Democratic control over the use of collective force for national and international security has been a problem since the rise of modern democracy in Europe and North America. By the twentieth century, however, the issue finally appeared to have been resolved. Public and parliamentary oversight of national armed forces comprising professional soldiers or citizen-soldiers promised to prevent the abuse of military power by both state and non-state actors. The controversy over the growing role of private military contractors in Western military has to be seen in this context. Ranging from the outsourcing of essential military services for national defence to the proliferation of armed guards shooting at civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, private contractors have become a new and seemingly unregulated force. Private military companies are the incorporated face of this development. In contrast to the condottieri of fourteenth-century Italy and the post-colonial mercenaries of the 1970s, modern private military contractors are registered businesses with headquarters, administrative staff, public relations officers and ISO 9001 certification. These businesses not only supply armed guards, but also technical services across the full spectrum of military and military support functions, such as weapons maintenance and operations, site guarding, training, education, risk analysis, intelligence, transport, supplies, logistics and base management. The size of the contemporary private military industry is staggering.