Although there is no formal institutional connection between India and NATO, India and the NATO allies, most importantly the United States, informally share an interest in maintaining maritime security in the Indian Ocean and have spent significant resources to combat piracy in this vast area.

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Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) created a code of conduct, modeled after the Djibouti Code of Conduct, to increase regional cooperation in combatting piracy. The code of conduct was signed on June 25, 2013, after a conference on maritime safety and security in Yaounde, Cameroon and is also known as the Yaounde Declaration.

The United States restored official relations with Somalia in January 2013 after years of civil unrest there, reflecting an increasingly stable Somali political environment. Better relations with Somalia, however, have little to do with the decrease in piracy, and the drop in offshore piracy cannot be attributed to Somali government efforts.

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A surge in pirate attacks off the Somali coast in recent years has prompted the deployment of an international coalition of navies. But experts say that military force alone cannot address the underlying issue of failed Somali governance.

This report of the United Nations Assessment Mission on Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea was released on January 18, 2012. The document was mandated by the UN Secretary-General, to report the "mission to the Gulf of Guinea to assess the scope of the threat of piracy in the region, and take stock of national and regional capacities to ensure maritime safety and security in the region and make recommendations for a possible United Nations response".

This backgrounder emphasizes the need for the US and other countries to take offensive, and not defensive, measures against threats to global commerce and security.

Somali pirates have been resilient against efforts to stop them, but a new approach that includes legal measures, controlling financial flows, building regional capacity and more could be the combination that defeats piracy, writes CFR's Michael Lyon Baker.

To defeat piracy in centuries past, governments pursued a more active defense at sea and a political solution on land. The current piracy epidemic off the coast of East Africa requires many of the same tactics.

Max Boot provides an annotated Foreign Affairs syllabus on pirates.

Micah Zenko argues that given the ineffectiveness of recent U.S. operations in Somalia, airstrikes against Somali pirates would be militarily and politically unsuccessful.

This briefing note, drawing on a meeting of a roundtable of experts held at Chatham House on 26 February 2009 by the Africa Programme and the International Law Discussion Group, clarifies some
of the legal concerns around combating piracy off the Somali coast.

In Wednesday's Roundup: How to deal with the Somali pirates; the world's first cloned camel; and threats to democracy in Southeast Asia.

Even as gunboats from across the globe move into their waters, the desperate, well-armed, and increasingly bold bandits of Somalia keep swarming the decks of the world's largest ships. They take what they want, they don't leave until the (higher and higher) ransoms are paid, and they won't stop until a modern-day war against piracy breaks out.

Jeffrey Gettleman describes Somalia's chaos based on his own experiences there over the last two and a half years as a reporter.

International coordination is key to countering modern-day freebooters, say James Kraska and Brian Wilson.

The International Maritime Organization's Djibouti Code of Conduct regarding piracy and armed robbery was signed on January 29, 2009.

 Max Boot writes that "the predations of pirates and terrorists--two species of international outlaws--have caused much handwringing and a so-far unsuccessful search for solutions."

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1846, regarding repressing acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia, was adopted on December 2, 2008.

This is a brief on the piracy issue in Somalia.