Beginning with the decline of the mercenary profession, the use of private military contractors began to rise. Starting not long after the Cold War, PMC has now spread so far that it is currently used in every continent, except for Antarctica. PMC have become so popular for many reasons. For example, they are not in the hands of the formal government, therefore there is a political barrier for a country to avoid being condemned for its wrong-doings. They are not officially military personnel, so in the event that a human right is violated or they've abused their power, it is hard to bring them to justice. There is also very little regulation regarding the use of PMC in peacekeeping, military and security operations. .
PMC were first used in Africa during the 1990's. They were first involved fighting the National Union for Total Independence for Angola and later in Sierra LEone. They were all used at the end of the apartheid era, where they were sent to work in areas such as Afghanistan and Iraq. In South AFrica specifically, the PMC threatening the safety and the rights of the citizens and the law. In South America, the PMC DynCorp International was created to prevent the cultivation of illicit narcotics, to shut down illicit drug laboratories and networks, and to train the army and personnel of the country. However, DynCorp was brought to court for reports of them spraying narcotic crops. In the MIddle East, like in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is the most high profile of recent use of PMC's. The PMC were responsible for about 36% of the incidents that too place at the Abu Ghraib Prison These incidents include rape, torture, murder and physical abuse. Blackwater contractors were known to randomly shoot and kill Iraqi civilians as well as civilians in Baghdad. .
As shown, PMC have spread throughout the world and the difficulty of to make PMC's more accountable and to build a consensus around their usage will be extremely difficult.