The recent surge in piracy attacks off the coast of Somalia has triggered an international response which is unprecedented in terms of the number of actors involved. The International Response to Somali Piracy presents a comprehensive treatment of the international response to Somali piracy, exploring current initiatives to counter the piracy threat, both operationally and legally. Moreover, the book analyzes the regional and broader international context within which these initiatives are taken, and identifies the challenges and opportunities for international cooperation on fighting piracy at sea. This volume brings together experts from a great variety of different backgrounds and disciplines.

Piracy is no longer an archaic problem. This analysis of the legal issues surrounding the repression of piracy and armed robbery at sea assesses whether the existing legal regime can effectively counter piracy in the modern age.

Maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia was first recognised as a global concern in 2008 after the hijackings of World Food Programme vessels. It remains a serious impediment to international maritime trade and a significant risk to seafarers. Bringing a criminological perspective to the subject, this book presents an analysis of Somali piracy by means of Routine Activity Theory and regulatory pluralism. Based on data from a range of sources, including published documents and in-depth interviews with representatives of industry, government, and international organisations, the study concludes that no one institution or policy will suffice to control Somali piracy. Accordingly, a number of different actors and institutions have a role to play in reducing the supply of motivated offenders, the vulnerability of prospective victims, and in enhancing guardianship. The book envisages a holistic counter-piracy program based on a pluralistic regulatory model that is sustainable within the region, and managed by the region, providing the best opportunity for both the immediate future, and for long-term success. This study will be essential reading for criminologists, public policy and legal scholars, as well as policy makers and regulators in countries affected by and dealing with piracy, and international professional advocacy groups operating in the maritime space.

ÔA number of books dealing with piracy have been published in recent years. This book stands out by the breadth of its coverage, which, unusually and much to be welcomed, includes detailed consideration of both public and private law. The book is also notable for the quality and range of expertise of its contributors, who are not only leading experts in the field but a mixture of academic and practising lawyers.Õ Ð Robin Churchill, The University of Dundee, UK ÔPiracy once again is posing serious threats to international trade, navigation and, of course, to the safety of seafarers. This collection of outstanding essays by outstanding scholars and practitioners examines the background to the re-emergence of piracy in South Asia, East and West Africa and explores the complex legal and practical challenges which crafting effective responses has presented. It is, quite simply, essential reading for anyone who is seriously interested in understanding and responding to one of the most pressing problems of our time.Õ Ð Malcolm Evans, University of Bristol, UK Modern Piracy is the first book to survey the law of maritime piracy from both public law and commercial law perspectives, as well as providing a contextual overview of piracy in major hotspots. Topics covered include issues of international law, law-enforcement cooperation, private armed security, ransoms, insurance and carriage of goods by sea. It provides a comprehensive introduction to the range of legal issues presented by the modern piracy menace and will be of interest to scholars and practitioners alike. Benefiting from a wide range of international expertise, this book will be of interest to public international law academics, government legal counsel, maritime commercial law practitioners, international relations academics as well as anyone interested in transnational organised crime.

Soon to be a major motion picture The first close-up look at the hidden world of Somali pirates by a young journalist who dared to make his way into their remote havens and spent a year infiltrating their lives. For centuries, stories of pirates have captured imaginations around the world. The recent ragtag bands of pirates off the coast of Somalia, hijacking multimillion-dollar tankers owned by international shipping conglomerates, have brought the scourge of piracy into the modern era. Jay Bahadur’s riveting narrative exposé—the first of its kind—looks at who these men are, how they live, the forces that created piracy in Somalia, how the pirates spend the ransom money, how they deal with their hostages, among much, much more. It is a revelation of a dangerous world at the epicenter of political and natural disaster.

In a world in which global trade is at risk, where warehouses and airports, shipping lanes and seaports try to guard against the likes of Al Qaeda and Somali pirates, and natural disaster can disrupt the flow of goods, even our “stuff” has a political life. The high stakes of logistics are not surprising, Deborah Cowen reveals, if we understand its genesis in war. In The Deadly Life of Logistics, Cowen traces the art and science of logistics over the last sixty years, from the battlefield to the boardroom and back again. Focusing on choke points such as national borders, zones of piracy, blockades, and cities, she tracks contemporary efforts to keep goods circulating and brings to light the collective violence these efforts produce. She investigates how the old military art of logistics played a critical role in the making of the global economic order—not simply the globalization of production, but the invention of the supply chain and the reorganization of national economies into transnational systems. While reshaping the world of production and distribution, logistics is also actively reconfiguring global maps of security and citizenship, a phenomenon Cowen charts through the rise of supply chain security, with its challenge to long-standing notions of state sovereignty and border management. Though the object of corporate and governmental logistical efforts is commodity supply, The Deadly Life of Logistics demonstrates that they are deeply political—and, considered in the context of the long history of logistics, deeply indebted to the practice of war.

Following six years of extensive fieldwork, Weldemichael examines the international causes, internal dynamics, and domestic consequences of piracy in Somalia.