Abstract
Until 2014, the French authorities had refused to outsource the use of armed force in war zones. However, in July of that year, a law was passed in order to allow private companies to participate in areas of naval conflict under the authority of a state agency (the National Council of Private security activities). This article demonstrates that this policy project was supported by the national union of ship owners, Armateurs de France, and the French Maritime Cluster : the principal beneficiaries of the law thus played the role of policy entrepreneurs. Their demands were placed on the political agenda in part thanks to the media coverage of hostages taking and a favorable political context, both of these elements creating a window of opportunity. Anticipating the reluctance of politicians to adopt legislation over this matter, ship owners adapted their discourses to justify the use of the private sector, by highlighting its “unavoidability” and by reaffirming the sovereign power of the state as the controller of a new market for maritime security. In this way, the outsourcing of French maritime protection has been driven by a hybrid model that combines both liberalism and protectionism.