WP 543 'War on piracy'. The conflation of Somali piracy with terrorism in discourse, tactic and law / by C. Singh and A.S. Bedi.
ISS Working Paper by Currun Singh and Arjun Singh Bedi.
Abstract
This paper argues that since 2005, the global security discourse has confused maritime piracy off the Horn of Africa with terrorism.
American and European policymakers and financiers have tapped a vulnerable public imaginary to exaggerate Somali pirates as ‘maritime terrorists’ linked to Shabaab and Al Qaeda, driving the militarization and legal obfuscation of counter-piracy operations. The discursive conflation of piracy and terrorism has thereby launched a tactical and legal War on Piracy that mirrors the War on Terror. This approach is pushing pirates to become more daring and dangerous in response.
We conclude that the tactical extension from counter-terrorism to counter-piracy is unlikely to succeed, as it is insensitive to the origins, motives and modus operandi of Somali pirates. The paper proposes a shift from military to developmental responses to piracy, with an emphasis on respecting local institutions of law enforcement and governance in Somalia.
Keywords
Piracy, terrorism, Somalia
About the authors
| Currun Singh is an MA student in the Erasmus Mundus Public Policy Programme. He has a BA cum laude in Social Studies from Harvard University. |
| Arjun Singh Bedi is a professor in the staff group, Economics of Development, at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. |
ISS Working Paper Series
Complete list of ISS Working Papers
Subscribe to our free email notification service for the ISS Working Paper Series
Publication date: Wednesday, 23 May 2012
