From the war on terror to a war on territory: corporate counterinsurgency at the Escobal mine and the Dakota Access Pipeline

Abstract

As extractive industries expand and adapt to the globalized economy, new methods have emerged to ensure extraction at any cost. In the context of the global war on terror and the privatization of security, private military and security companies now offer their services to extractive corporations in non-combat scenarios. This paper applies the concept of corporate counterinsurgency to the Escobal mine in Guatemala and the Dakota Access Pipeline in the United States in order to identify the characteristics of militarized campaigns launched by transnational corporations and supported by states. Based on primary documents and investigative reporting from both cases, we argue that the counterinsurgent tactics deployed against movements resisting extractive projects stem from a strategic goal to control territory, shared by transnational corporations in the extractive and security sectors.