A UK ‘security-industrial complex’? : A reassessment of the origins, characteristics, and consequences of private sector involvement in the counter-terrorism aspects of contemporary UK national security strategy

摘要

An argument has arisen that a ‘security-industrial complex’ (SIC) exists in, and is damaging to, the United Kingdom. The oft-repeated assessment is that, like the ‘military-industrial complex’ (MIC) which existed before (and continues to operate alongside) it, a damaging system of public-private sector interaction has emerged in the non-military aspects of national security strategy. Critics portray the purported system - the SIC - as an organised alliance of self-interested government and profit-making entities that exploits the security environment for its own gain.The suitability of using ‘SIC’ terminology is untested within security studies, however. This thesis reassesses how to conceptualise the public-private sector cooperation that has arisen in the contemporary security environment by analysing the origins, characteristics and consequences of the private sector’s involvement in the domestic counter-terrorism (CT) aspects of contemporary UK national security strategy following the terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001. It demonstrates through reference to existing theory on the MIC, original interviews, and analysis of certain contracts and other case studies concerning companies’ involvement in the UK Government’s CT strategy that, instead of replicating the MIC in the new security context exactly, a more nuanced system of public-private interaction has arisen. Whilst some of the dynamics associated with the MIC exist in the CT sector, this thesis questions whether the aggregation of these dynamics in the CT field should be understood and presented in the same way.A lack of systemic scholarly research on ‘the SIC’ in the UK has hindered the development of policy-making and debate in respect of the private sector’s involvement in the non-military aspects of national security. The thesis seeks to address this gap, making an original, policy-orientated contribution, which aims to stimulate informed discussion and policy improvements in the field.