Challenge: Corporate Wars in Africa/The Middle East

So here is my challenge. Make me a timeline where during the 20th century the Middle East and Africa become an all out battleground for resources not between nations and rival polities, but rather between extremely wealthy and powerful corporations using private armies to fight over the most valuable assets available in the region (diamonds, oil, etc.).

I imagine government authority in these regions would need to be incredibly weak, though it's not a requirement. For that matter, something weird would need to happen with the governments at home to allow this to go on for any real length of time.

"The Corporate Wars" must be a continuous thing lasting over a period of decades. They can be over by 2000 - or not - it doesn't matter, but they should last throughout most of the post-WW2 century.

While I'm mainly thinking of a post-WWII timeframe, the POD can be pre-WWII as well, even butterflying the war entirely or altering it in some way that leads to this. The latter at least is probably necessary, though you're welcome to surprise me.

Note: The Corporations can be capable of seizing territory to fund their armies and to better exploit the resources of the region. Cheap/free labor.
 
Chevron and Shell become the new East India Companies and build their own private navies. With instant communication and all that, I don't think they'd get away with some of the stuff the VOC did.

I guess companies fighting each other would be a boom for the mercenar.... I mean private military contractors :rolleyes:. Mercenaries don't exist any more. Uh-huh, because changing their name magically changes who and what they are. Typical political solution to any problem, not that I have any problem with mercenaries.
 
You could set a precedent maybe in the Congo Crisis where Union Miniere hired mercenaries to defend mines and push back various factions from advancing but these actions were far less prominent than those of the UN forces in the region. Lets say that the UN proves even more of a failure at securing peace than they had been in OTL and eventually a mercenary force hired by Union Miniere secures and pacifies the region. Western media, in full anti-communism mode, chalks it up to the good men of fortune under the Union Miniere employ and Union Miniere decides to maintain a private security force and soon other corporations follow suit.

It's very unlikely that this would evolve into various corporate mercenary groups fighting each other, however, as it's far more likely the conflict over resources would be solved in the boardroom and not the battlefield.
 
The easiest way these "Corporate Wars" would come about would be corporations effectively running various governments / factions in West Africa and pitting them against each other, with very small groups of well trained and disciplined mercenaries only fighting those groups for key missions / targets * and a tacit agreement that the mercenaries shouldn't fight one another, lest the governments back home get involved*.
 
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