Comparison of the Use of Private Military Companies Services by the Administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama

The article deals with the phenomenon of Private Military Companies (PMCs) and their utilization by the United States of America (US). Its objective is the comparison of the use of PMC services by the administrations of President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, respectively. It specifically focuses on the following four areas: capacity (numbers of PMCs deployed and the number of their employees), funding (costs of PMC services), regulation (its forms and laws covering PMCs), control and monitoring (supervision of PMCs and their staff by relevant public bodies). The main finding is that there have been few major changes in the use of PMCs' services, which contradicts president Obama's rhetoric both before and after he assumed office.