Dr. Marc von Boemcken
Beginning at BICC / current duty
Marc von Boemcken joined BICC in 2003 as a Researcher. At present, he is Senior Researcher and Project Leader at BICC.
Key expertise
His current research focuses on non-statutory security providers, arms export control and the arms industry. In the past, Marc von Boemcken worked in projects related to small arms control, arms embargoes, terrorism, security sector reform, human security, conflict prevention, military expenditures, military contractors and military technologies. He is also interested in theories of security and violence and the discussions surrounding the ‘security–development nexus’.
(Academic) education / CV:
Marc von Boemcken studied Politics, International Relations, Sociology and International Law at Lancaster University (UK) and graduated with an MA in 2002. He is currently completing a PhD in Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen.
Between 1996 and 1998, Marc von Boemcken was trained as a reserve officer in the German Armed Forces (armored infantry). In 2002 and 2003, he worked as a project assistant for Inwent—Capacity Building International.
Having worked at BICC for two years on arms embargoes and small arms control, he became a Senior Researcher and Project Leader in 2005. He developed BICC’s arms export country database (www.ruestungsexport.info), the Global Militarization Index (GMI) and the BICC Conflict Matrix. Other projects included an inventory of Security Sector Reform efforts (for the GTZ), a training module on defense reform (for the OECD), a study on military expenditure management (for the KfW), a concept paper on “Early Warning – Early Action” (for the BMZ), documentations of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, and a study on the professional identity of security contractors in Iraq (funded by the German Foundation for Peace Research).
More recently, Marc has completed field research in Timor-Leste, Liberia and Peru on the impact of private security companies on development-related factors (funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development). The main findings were published in BICC brief 45. For the TERAS Index project at the Institute for Peace and Security at the University of Hamburg (IFSH), he has also compiled a database on European foreign and security policy in the Middle East.
Projects:
- Mercenary identities: The self-image of employees of private military-security companies in Iraq
- Commercial provision of security in development countries
- Security, armaments and development in countries receiving German arms exports
- Documentation of arms export
- Early Warning – Early Action
- Country reports on security, armament and development in recipient countries of German arms exports (in German)
BICC-Publications:
- German Arms Exports—"Strengthening instead of interference"
- Between Security Markets and Protection Rackets. Formations of Political Order
- Dealing with Private Security Companies. Options for Development Cooperation in Timor-Leste, Liberia and Peru
- Annual Report 2012
- Commercial Security and Development Findings from Timor-Leste, Liberia and Peru
- Annual Report 2011
- Annual Report 2010
- Annual Report 2009
- Annual Report 2007
- Konzeptpapier - "Early warning - early action" Entwicklungspolitische Instrumente zur frühzeitigen Eindämmung von Gewaltkonflikten
- Der Streit um das iranische Atomprogramm: Auf der Suche nach dem „kreativen Kompromiss“ Zum aktuellen Angebotspaket und den Erfolgsaussichten von Sanktionen
- Annual Report 2006
- Incorporation of Defense Expenditures into Public Expenditure Work
Other publications (selection):
Franke, Volker and Marc von Boemcken. 2011. “Guns for Hire: Motivations and Attitudes of Private Security Contractors.” Armed Forces and Society, Vol. 37, pp. 725–42.
Franke, Volker and Marc von Boemcken. 2011. Attitudes, Values and Professional Self-Conceptions of Private Security Contractors in Iraq. An Exploratory Study. Forschung DSF No. 24. Osnabrück: Deutsche Stiftung Friedensforschung. Available at http://www.bundesstiftung-friedensforschung.net/pdf-docs/berichtfranke.pdf
Boemcken, Marc, von. 2010. “Methods for Analyzing Security Formations in Fragile States.” Paper presented at the conference: Security Apparatuses in Authoritarian and Fragile States: Functions and Reform Potentials, Bonn, 17–18 June.
Further publications (pdf)