Piracy in Somalia

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Somali Pirates will continue their operations and remain influential towards the determination of Somalia’s future and regional security. Many can argue that if pirates cannot collect ransom, then their way of life will come to end. The purpose of my paper is to refute this claim of extinction. To do this I will review the financial losses and then describe the factors which contributed to the pattern of unsuccessful attacks. I will highlight why the Somali Pirates will stay in power with a description of their economic culture which mirrors risk-taking capitalism. I will summarize the United States’ current relationship with Somalia and analyze piracy’s effects on the War on Terror and United States’ interest.
United Nations reports that from 2005 to 2012 Somalia’s pirates collected approximately $ 400 million in revenue (Harress, 2013). Then out of nowhere earnings dropped to zero. In 2013, Somali Pirates failed to collect multi-million dollar ransom payouts because they were unable to hijack large, expensive, cargo-laden ships in the Gulf of Aden (Keating, 2014). Again, in the first and second quarters of 2014 there haven’t been any reports about ransom payments.
Stratford Global Security Weekly cites a sharp downward trend with respect to the Piracy off the coast of Somalia. Successful hijackings have decreased from 49 in 2010 to 31 in 2011 and only four attacks in 2012. One critical factor to the sudden drop in attacks is that most maritime shipping companies placed armed guards aboard their vessels in 2011; other protective measures included fences and water cannons to discourage boarding. In addition, the drop in attacks is also attributed to US and International Naval Patrols, for example the United States-backe...

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...s It All Gone? Retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.com/secret-flow-somali-piracy-ransoms-179-hijacked-ships-generated-some-400m-payments-2005-so-where-has
Keating, J. (2014, January 16). The Decline and Fall of Somali Piracy. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/01/16/the_decline_and_fall_of_somali_piracy.html
Reuters (2013, April 8). Obama approves sending U.S. military aid to Somalia| Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/08/us-somalia-usa-idUSBRE93711G20130408
Singh, C. (2013, October 22). Al Shabaab Fights the Pirates - NYTimes.com. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/opinion/international/al-shabab-fights-the-pirates.html?_r=0
West, B. (2012, November 8). The Expensive, Diminishing Threat of Somali Piracy | Stratford. Retrieved from http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/expensive-diminishing-threat-somali-piracy

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