Neoliberalism and War
May 13, 2008Christopher Parker reviewing James A. Tyner. The Business of War: Workers, Warriors, and Hostages in Occupied Iraq
Iraq clearly represents a new phase in “the business of war.” Not only have the support functions of state-declared war been privatized to an extent previously unseen; close examination of the practices of private contractors in Iraq reveals the darker side of a world that has gradually been remade over the past three decades to make it amenable to neoliberal modalities of government. The role of the neoliberal model in Iraq’s reconstruction is outlined in the first half of chapter 3, “The Business of Occupation.” Tyner then calls attention to the contract laborers who have come from the slums of East Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America to work for the private firms providing support services to the U.S. Army and other agencies involved in the reconstruction and government of Iraq. Tyner shows how this flow of migrant labor has been made possible by new forms of cooperation between state agencies and a transnational private sector empowered by neoliberal reforms. He also shows that these invisible minions play a crucial role in making the human and financial costs of war acceptable to the U.S. public. Meanwhile, for militant groups, these migrants have — in Tyner’s estimation — come to symbolize the militant neoliberal imperialism of the Anglo-American project in Iraq.
