The Social Structure of the Market for Force

Over the past two decades, governments have increasingly contracted private military and security companies (PMSCs) to support military operations in conflicts. However, many observers have argued that such companies are ‘greedy market actors’ or ‘reckless mercenaries’ and their level of performance very poor. A minority has defended them as security professionals. If market competition is present, the level of performance is high and positive contributions to the client’s military operation can be expected. However, neither PMSC opponents nor proponents can account for the variance in the level of performance in three crucial cases – Sierra Leone, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This article argues that different market structures explain this variance. At least three ideal configurations exist: collaborative, competitive, and rival structures. These structures influence the level of performance. PMSC performance levels are expected to decrease from the first configuration, being positive, to the last, being negative

Oscillatory and asymptotically zero solutions of third order difference equations with quasidifferences

In this paper, third order difference equations are considered. We study the nonlinear third order difference equation with quasidifferences. Using Riccati transformation techniques, we establish some sufficient conditions for each solution of this equation to be either oscillatory or converging to zero. The result is illustrated with examples

Comparison of properties of solutions of differential equations and recurrence equations with the same characteristic equation (on example of third order linear equations with constant coefficients)

Third order linear homogeneous differential and recurrence equations with constant coefficients are considered. We take the both equations with the same characteristic equation. We show that these equations (differential and recurrence) can have solutions with different properties concerning oscillation and boundedness. Especially the numbers of suitable types of solutions taken out from fundamental sets are presented. We give conditions under which the asymptotic properties considered are the same for the both equations

Oscillatory properties of fourth order nonlinear difference equations with quasidifferences

In this paper we present the oscillation criterion for a class of fourth order nonlinear difference equations with quasidifferences