home > by publication type > must reads > Chatham House: Pirates and How to Deal With Them
Email
| Author: | Roger Middleton |
|---|
April 22, 2009
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.
Excerpt: In 2008, piracy off the coast of Somalia went from being an irritation to a major global concern.1 Now navies from at least 17 states, organized around three multinational taskforces, are patrolling Somalia's seas. So far in 20092, 79 ships have been attacked and 19 ships and their crews taken hostage. Pirates captured by various states' navies are standing trial in Puntland, Kenya, France and the Netherlands. Navies have had some success in their primary aim of disrupting piratical activity and the success rates for pirate attacks has dropped from around 1 in 3 to about 1 in 4. However, as well-publicized cases of pirates being released after capture have demonstrated, there are perceived to be legal constraints on the action of some states and confusion about the legal powers of others.
The meeting focused on legal issues concerning the arrest and prosecution of pirates. Other legal concerns such as payment of ransom money to pirates and the use of private security firms are not addressed here.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.