Overview

This comprehensive survey of historical and contemporary issues related to maritime crime and piracy, with a special focus on Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, explains why piracy is a growing problem and how it affects security policy making in the United States. Here, piracy is defined as taking place on the high seas, while maritime crime takes place within a country's territorial waters. Seaborne terrorism may occur in either one of these maritime zones. Maritime piracy can be divided into several categories, from pirates robbing a ship or its crew of petty items while at sea to taking a ship's cargo and taking control of a vessel, reflagging it, and then using this captured ship to smuggle drugs, transport illegal immigrants, or conduct further acts of piracy. This is the most dangerous, not only because pirates can use a captured ship to carry out more raids, but also because they can use the ship's identity papers to transport goods and weapons—potentially WMDs—into otherwise secure port areas. A special concern to the US is that the threat of piracy is growing most quickly in parts of the world—such as Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia—where both global trade is rapidly expanding and where international terrorist groups are actively functioning or have supporters. This geographical overlap suggests that the risk that pirates and terrorists may one day cooperate to strike at the US or an ally is most likely also on the rise. While many important African, South Asia, and Southeast Asian cases have received insufficient attention, many well-known historical piracy events stand in need of a reappraisal. This book integrates a number of multinational, multiregional, and historical cases of piracy, maritime crime, and seaborne terrorism to investigate whether piracy and other forms of maritime crime are becoming a major United States national security concern. It analyzes some of the most important cases, especially of the 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries, as well as specific historical events. This allows to draw lessons as to what are the components of successful and unsuccessful piracy, common causes, the type of navy necessary to control it, and finally, possible military, political, and economic consequences. The book also discusses various types of cases, including parasitic, intrinsic, episodic, and opportunistic piracy. Specific cases are also evaluated in terms of the changing interpretations of international law and the recent reported growth rates of piracy, maritime crime, and seaborne terrorism. These findings are used to explore the impact of piracy on maritime security, in particular in Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia and their surrounding waters, which is where the majority of contemporary piracies and maritime crimes occur. Different methods of policing piracy and maritime crime are evaluated, including the viability of adopting greater Maritime Domain Awareness, which would require that all ships at sea—regardless of size or function—emit a signal beacon identifying their name, country of origin, and route. This combination of historical and modern day piracy and the many cases studied will provide readers with a broader understanding of maritime piracy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Bruce A. Elleman, US Naval War College
Publisher:   Rowman & Littlefield
Imprint:   Rowman & Littlefield
Dimensions:   Width: 15.70cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 23.90cm
Weight:   0.549kg
ISBN:  

9781442260184

ISBN 10:   1442260181
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   23 February 2018
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Defining Piracy, Maritime Crime, and Seaborne Terrorism 1. Historical Piracy and its Impact 2. Early Attempts to Halt Piracy 3. The Taiping Rebellion and the Arrow War 4. Post-War Piracy in Southeast and East Asia 5. The Looting and Rape of Vietnamese Boat People 6. Confronting Maritime Crime in Australian Waters 7. Twenty-First Century High Seas Piracy off of Somalia 8. Maritime Crime and Piracy in the Malacca Strait 9. Contemporary Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships 10. Success and Failures of Counter-Piracy Operations 11. The Threat of Seaborne Terrorism 12. Conclusions: International Piracy in the Era of Maritime Domain Awareness Bibliography Chapter Summaries Following the Introduction, Chapter 1 examines historical piracy and its impact on global trade, in particular in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Caribbean. Chapter 2 then focuses on early European and American attempts to halt piracy. These policies were so successful that it was once thought global piracy could be completely eliminated. Chapter 3 turns to Asia, which has seen a huge rise in piracy and maritime crime over the past few decades. A historical examination of the Taiping Rebellion and the Arrow War shows how European intervention during the 19th century attempted to curtail piracy off the China coast. Chapter 4 takes the story up through World War II by examining the post-war resurgence of piracy in Southeast and East Asia, in particular as a consequence of European decolonization. Chapter 5 focuses on one of the most horrific of the Southeast Asian cases, the looting and rape of Vietnamese boat people. Pirates preyed on fleeing Vietnamese not only for their money, but in an effort—often state-supported or at the very least ignored by local governments—to dissuade refugees from coming to their shores. Chapter 6 moves further south and evaluates Australian efforts to confront maritime crime in its waters. After summarizing historical cases, Chapter 7 turns to twenty-first century high seas piracy off of Somalia, while Chapter 8 examines maritime crime and piracy in the Malacca Strait. This leads to Chapter 9's discussion of contemporary piracy and armed robbery against ships and to Chapter 10's discussion of the success and failures of counter-piracy operations. To date, there have been few documented cases of maritime terrorism, but the possibility of such attacks exists. Chapter 11 examines the threat of seaborne terrorism, focusing on possible locations, terrorist groups that might be capable of turning to the sea to carry out attacks, and what global navies are currently doing to counter these possibilities. Rebel groups often smuggle high-value goods, such as drugs or diamonds, to fund their operations. This chapter therefore also discusses cases where insurgencies have turned to the sea to raise funds, and how this trend might lead to future cases of seaborne terrorism. Chapter 12 summarizes the book's findings, plus discusses in greater detail how the international community is dealing with the threat of piracy through the adoption of even greater Maritime Domain Awareness, as indicated by the widespread adoption of the ISPS Code, SUA Convention, and long-range identification and tracking (LRIT) of ships.

Reviews

Bruce Elleman is a formidable scholar whose work has always brought together deep historical understanding and contemporary topicality. In focusing on the vital and neglected area of contextualised approaches to suppression of piracy as a threat to the security of the maritime commons, his latest work fills a gap in the literature of both maritime power and the Indo-Pacific region. -- John Reeve, UNSW Canberra, Australian Defence Force Academy

Author Information

Bruce A. Elleman is William V. Pratt Professor of International History in the Maritime History Department, Center for Naval Warfare Studies, U.S. Naval War College.

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