Essay from the year 2010 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: "-", University of St Andrews (Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence), language: English, abstract: In the year 2011 piracy is omnipresent in the Somali Basin and it has begun to spread all over the Indian Ocean. According to figures from 21 October 2011 provided by the International Maritime Bureaüs Piracy Reporting Center, 13 vessels and 249 hostages are currently held by Somali pirates. A total of 208 incidents were reported, 24 of which were hijackings . In fact, Somali piracy is nothing new. It only appears to be new because Somaliäs geostrategic position happens to be along one of the major Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC). Had that not been the case and had western shipping not been affected, the world had taken little notice of the problem. Until 2008 the pirates almost refrained from killing hostages and were exclusively after ransom. Younger incidents, starting with the Le Penant in 2008 show a change in attitude. Pirates have become more brutal, starting to torture and kill, and there have been demands to release fellow pirates from prisons rather than to deliver ransom, such as 2010 in the Asphalt Venture case. Although such can still be considered piracy, this element brings back memories of hijackings by extremist groups such as the 1977 Landshut case or the 1985 Achille Lauro incident. The essay explains the general Somali piracy problem and why it is so contrary. Piracy is always a regional phenomenon and never a global threat, which goes back to the condition that it is - and has to be - always linked to the political situation on land. That said, selective investments as suggested by some cannot work in the Somali environment as a solution because the understanding of business in this part of the world differs from ours. Others say that the only viable way is to treat all entities in Somalia equally. The current essay supports his view, although that seems the more difficult way. Much if not all depends on the overall stability of Somalia but the maritime threats should be addressed more effectively today, which is why the essay also discusses possible naval approaches. May it be capacity building on land or fighting pirates at sea - if the coalition does not act quickly, the initiative will most certainly be taken over by private security companies, which is partly already the case today. In any way, with the right methods and means in place it should be able to eradicate Somali piracy. But it will take time, which most of the affected individuals do not have.
