The Case of Estonia In Private Security and National Security

The Case of Estonia In Private Security and National Security Presented by: Dr. Light, Dr. Singh AND Mr. Gold Date: 7 October 2022 How Do National Security Considerations Influence Private Security Development? - Our earlier research: major national security threats generate state involvement; Estonia as an "most-likely case" - Results: influence is mediated by other institutional and policy choices - Also: factors that tend to "tame" private security in industrialized democracies Plan Of Presentation - Lit on private security development + our investigation - Estonia's post-Soviet political trajectory - From the wild 1990s to today's modest industry: • Separation from public policing • Anti-OC campaign • Ownership/staffing policies • "Whole of nation" domestic security approach Debates About Private Security: Economic Role And Public Police - Theories about private security in capitalist development (Spitzer & Scull) - Formalization of security, relationship with public police (Shearing & Stenning, Jones & Newburn) - Regulatory debates: nodal governance vs. anchored pluralism (Loader & Walker) - Private high policing, private military companies (Singer, O'Reilly, Dorn & Levi) Our Motivations - Analyze PSCs in their role in the international system (Sheptycki, Loader & Percy) - Political legacies and types of regimes - How private security fits into regime's survival strategies - Prediction: state will be closely involved in managing private security development (compare South Africa) Our study - - Mainly documentary sources • Industry reports • Government white papers • Legislation • The press Key informant interviews Estonia's Political Trajectory - Soviet occupation - Demographic changes - Regained independence - Privatization agenda (Feldmann), "hard budget constraints" (Abrams & Fish) - "e-Estonia" Its Political Challenges - Tensions with Russia - Drive to enter EU and NATO - Relations w/ Russian-speaking community The Estonian Security Industry Today - One of the smallest in Europe - Mix of small local firms and major European ones (G4S) - Mostly guarding and technology - No particular growth trends, not involved in cybersecurity Regulation Within The European Mainstream - Limitations on guarding public spaces - Dual licensing requirement for firearms - Problem of under policing of rural areas and proposals for reform - Proposals to delicense/download some regulatory functions to industry confederation The 19990s "Wild West" Of Estonian Private Security - Soviet legacy: "the guarding police" - Security firms emerge out of police, KGB - Blurred boundaries with organized crime - Connections with post-Soviet region - Control of force question, the "Jaager incident" Estonia's Policy Choices, I: Disintermediating The Public Police - Abolition of "guarding police" - Contrast most other post-Soviet states - Motivations • Purely legal? • Ideological? • Prevent extortion rackets? Disintermediating Organized Crime - Surprisingly robust 1990s OC scene linked to post-Soviet space - Campaign focused on hardening revenue and customs agencies - Contrast Estonian "situational approach" with Georgia's anti-mafia campaign (Slade) - Results: a reduced OC sector Regulation Of Ownership And Employment - Vetting of ex-KGB/Soviet police - Non-citizens barred from employment, ownership - Open to European ownership (compare banking industry) - →dominated by politically reliable actors Estonia's Security Ecology - Conscription - The Defense League - Liberal gun laws The Cybersecurity Contrast - The Bronze Soldier incident and cyberattack - NATO "center of excellence" - Private/public synergies (compare o'Reilly) - Private security sector not interested? Analysis: Private Security And National Security - National security considerations do influence PSC development, but... - Need to look at major institutional choices, esp. early on, rather than (mostly) tailored regulations - What's now "on the table" Generalizing From Estonia - Discrete mechanisms into two "processes": constraining and embedding private security - Estonia's distinctiveness on security ecosystem - Transferability and policy implications Methodological Points - Longitudinal analysis, "what is on table" - Derive new questions from non-traditional cases - Estonia and nodal governance/anchored pluralism debate - What we have/have not answered - Questions of culture, proximity, and diffusion