The Outsourcing of State Security: A Case Study of US Intervention in Laos, 1962–1975

The United States (US) involvement in covert action abroad has received significant scholarly attention, including the outsourcing of force to third parties, such as foreign death squads, private paramilitaries, and more recently private military and security companies. However, less attention has been paid to the routine and everyday mechanisms the US state uses to administer outsourced force, and the impacts this has both on the combatants and civilians. Through a historical examination of the covert conflict in Laos from 1962–1975, this article documents the routine administrative mechanisms the US state employed to prosecute an illegal war. This article’s principal contribution to the state crime literature is the documentation of the hidden harms this generated both for the combatants used and the civilians affected by the violence. This contribution is grounded in interviews conducted with ex-service people from the conflict period and archival research, including recently declassified materials.