After The Bubble: British Private Security Companies After Iraq

By Dominick Donald
25 Jul 2006

The boom in protective security in Iraq and has helped to create a group of British Private Security Companies (PSCs) keen to establish a separate, British identity within a sector hitherto dominated by US companies.

This Whitehall Paper presents a personal view from within one British PSC – AEGIS.
‘After the Bubble’ shows how the British PSC sector has developed, places it in its current and likely immediate future context, and offers pointers to how it is likely to adapt once the Iraq bubble disappears.

This paper highlights for government and policy makers the key issues that are likely to shape the debate about the sector in the short to medium term, and the areas where the sector believes it has something to offer. In so doing it aims to shift perceptions away from the caricatures that tend to distort media coverage of PSCs and provide a constructive, occasionally sceptical contribution to the debate.

The Author

Dominick Donald is a Senior Analyst for AEGIS, a British specialist security and risk management company. He has previously worked as a Programme Officer at the UN, a Leader Writer at The Times, and a Contributing Editor at Red Herring Magazine. He received a PhD in War Studies from King’s College, London.

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