Liminal war and crime: The role of 'private' actors

Defining what constitutes a ‘war’ and battlefield can be problematic, reliant on the purview of an international state system and how ‘battlefield’ deaths are counted. Liminal war is neither war or peace, an in-between zone presenting challenges in categorising combatants and activities, where private actors may be described simultaneously as mercenaries, private armies and organised crime groups. The case studies reviewed here demonstrate capacity for criminal activity in conflict, where territory and trade (legal and illegal) are intertwined with individual and organisational aspirations. These include the deployment to African states of Wagner soldiers, neither private army or mercenaries; the United Wa State Army in Myanmar, an ethnic army involved in the commercial production of illegal synthetic drugs; and the Philippines, with a ‘war on drugs’ and retention of private armies by warlords and politicians. These cases illustrate the key challenges in controlling private armies with allegiance to individuals and not the state. Justice, for the victims and survivors of liminal wars, would require a militarised response that challenges precepts of state sovereignty and the limitations of law enforcement.