Featured topics in this issue: Maritime Piracy

Read these articles in Russian here.

Piracy in Focus: Perspective of a Political Analyst

Peter Chalk (Ph.D. in Political Science, University of British Columbia, Canada) is a senior political analyst at the Rand Corporation, dealing with transnational security threats, evolving trends in national and international terrorism, and international organized crime.

Gordan Van Hook is currently with Maersk Line, Limited as their Senior Director for Innovation and Concept Development. Recently retired from the US Navy after 29 years, Captain Van Hook is a third generation naval officer. He also holds an MS in Information systems from the Naval Postgraduate School and an MA in National Security Strategy from the Naval War College.

The UN Security Council has rarely discussed the fight against international piracy. However, in December 2008 it adopted a resolution authorizing military action - including the conduct of ground operations - against pirates operating in the Horn of Africa.

In 2008, piracy attracted considerable attention. The scale of modern piracy is only the tip of the iceberg - many attacks by these sea robbers are never reported. There are different categories of pirates. The first group consists of ordinary criminals who commit primitive operations, such as steal anything. The second category includes members of organized criminal communities. The third group consists of representatives of paramilitary organizations.

The “Golden Age" of piracy is considered to be between 16-17th century, after that the problem began to fade. The disappearance of "classic pirates" and the revival of the "new piracy" are linked with the global technological, economic and political processes.

The strategy of European powers in dealing with North African corsairs in the 16-19th centuries, echoes the actions undertaken by the international community today in trying to curb piracy of the coast of Somalia.

The original expansion of the US Navy was done in order to combat piracy. The first American military campaign was the attack on pirate bases in North Africa.