The available literature regarding PMCs is a recent trend, with much literature published shortly after the inception of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The bulk of reading material addressing PMCs within a contemporary context appears to stem from journals on International Law and International Humanitarian Law.

An extensive review of existing literature has identified two experts on the private military industry. First, Peter W. Singer has been identified by this author as a security critic well-established within the academics of Privatized Security and Conflict studies. Singer's work has included the seminal non-fiction book, Corporate Warriors, described as a pioneering study of the PMC phenomenon. More significantly, Singer has written about the use of PMCs in Iraq extensively, an important criteria for this author's own work, which uses Iraq as a case study.

In addition to Peter W. Singer, the author of this thesis has identified one further consistently referenced critic within the field of Security Studies and Analysis. While Singer is an established, institutional academic, David Isenberg is known as a freelance security analyst, based in the U.S. political capital of Washington D.C. Isenberg's work may be seen as a complement to that of Singer. In addition to the publication of Singer's critique on PMCs in Iraq, 2004 also saw the release of Isenberg's own take on the matter. A Fistful of Contractors: The Case for a Pragmatic Assessment of Private Military Companies in Iraq was released by the British-American Security Information Council, a publishing house that attempts to offer an analysis of security sector issues with lesser emphasis on American viewpoints.406 Furthermore, while Singer's Corporate Warriors was revised in 2007 to refl ect the changing context of Iraq, Isenberg saw the release of his own extensive text on the PMC phenomenon in 2009. Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq was the starting point of this author's own thesis research and provided detailed information on the various PMCs active in Iraq since 2003, an overview of U.S. legal initiatives to curb PMC activity (such as MEJA) and detailed information on the Abu Ghraib Scandal and how this scandal led to questions of (governmental) oversight mechanisms to enforce accountability of PMCs and their staff members. Finally, the book also covered the Nisour Square Massacre of 2007, albeit to a lesser degree than the Abu Ghraib Scandal.