Piracy is a growing field of academic inquiry and is analyzed from various perspectives and disciplinary backgrounds in International Relations, including global governance research, international law, security and strategic studies, area studies and behavioral sciences. As pointed out in our last blog, around ca. 30 papers on piracy were presented at this year’s annual convention … Read more

By Christian Bueger European politicians, diplomats and military persistently argue in public that the EU’s anti-piracy mission ATALANTA is a humanitarian mission. “Protecting the transports of the World Food Programme is the top priority of the operation” is a statement heard frequently. Now, it is true that the frigates of ATALANTA provide safe routes for … Read more

October 11, 2010 0 comments A reliable ally in the fight against piracy? Introducing Puntland By Jan Stockbruegger There is a general agreement among academics, journalists and policy makers that piracy cannot be defeated at sea. It has to be fought on land. Since the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is too weak to do so, … Read more

irates are considered to be criminals. They hijack ships for ransom and make a fortune. They do not have political objectives. However, in a recent article in the New York TimesJeffrey Gettleman reports that Somali pirates are indeed getting involved in politics and take sides in the civil war. If this holds true, it marks … Read more

This first blog entry on Piracy-studies.org summarizes the state of affairs in the international community’s effort to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia. It describes some recent dynamics and tendencies, and portrays some possible future scenarios of the evolution of the piracy challenge and the international engagement in the Gulf of Aden and beyond. … Read more