Challenge: make privateering and filibustering last

There was a time when men with over developed testosterone glands made their fortunes privateering or even their own countries filibustering. Eventually this ended because such behaviour no longer suited the interests of world powers. What would make such activities acceptable and practiced throughout the 20th century?
 
Mercenaries are outlawed according to UN law; that would have to change first. It probably creates a whole lot of butterflies as well, I'd think.
 
There was a time when men with over developed testosterone glands made their fortunes privateering or even their own countries filibustering. Eventually this ended because such behaviour no longer suited the interests of world powers. What would make such activities acceptable and practiced throughout the 20th century?
Saltwater privateering was largely killed by the British domination of waves and buried by Industrial revolution. You will certainly need to butterfly former and quite possibly latter. Good luck!

Speaking about land-based mercenaries, they were all but destroyed by the same Industrial Revolution (which made platoon of conscripts with magazine-fed rifles nearly as deadly as section of supersoldier mercs) in 1st world, but still pretty widespread in wars involving less populated and developed territories. Bob Denar and countless war geese in Africa, Columbian death squads, mercs in Yugoslavia (all sides employed them to some extent) and Chechnya, Afghanistan and so on...
 
what do you mean make it last? the seas are full of pirates especially around africa and the indian ocean
a few years ago a austrian/croatian company ship got boarded and taken to liberia, and a few years before that they had an attack
attacks are hapening all the time it olnly goes in the news if a western company is hit, like a cruiser or a cargo ship
often small private ships just dissapear on the open international sea and noone hears from them
just make a few situations around the world less stabile and you get a lot more piracy
 
what do you mean make it last? the seas are full of pirates especially around africa and the indian ocean
a few years ago a austrian/croatian company ship got boarded and taken to liberia, and a few years before that they had an attack
attacks are hapening all the time it olnly goes in the news if a western company is hit, like a cruiser or a cargo ship
often small private ships just dissapear on the open international sea and noone hears from them
just make a few situations around the world less stabile and you get a lot more piracy

Not to mention all those mercenaries fighting in African wars right now. Or in Irak... :rolleyes:

And what is the French Foreign Legion if not an army of foreigners paid for fighting for other nation?
 
and what, for jesus on a pike, are "private military contractors" ?
i dont mean the ones driving trucks and doing the plumbing
the other ones
 
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