A Maritime Approach to Countering Horn of Africa Piracy

Piracy in the waters off the Hom of Africa (HOA) has become a multimillion dollar a year business for modern-day pirates because vessel ownership groups continue to pay ransoms. The seizing of cargo ships and ransom demands have harmful economic effects on corporations and countries. Piracy operations also directly threaten U.S. interests and citizens, as displayed during a recent kidnapping for ransom action that led to the deaths of four Americans. In addition, piracy affects global trade. Despite significant multinational counter-piracy efforts, which have included U.S. agencies and military forces, merchant vessels continue to be pirated regularly. Piracy off the coast of Somalia exists largely because Somalia is a failed state with little to no rule of law or domestic law enforcement capability. The economic situation of the people living in Somalia is dire. A lack of viable employment opportunities, a shortage of arable land, continuing drought, and increasing competition from other nations fishing off the coast have all affected Somalia's standard of living. The conventional wisdom is that the solution lies ashore, meaning the establishment of good governance and economic development in Somalia. But the international community has displayed no interest in engaging in nation building there. This thesis describes the challenges and ineffectiveness of current multinational counter-piracy operations, provides legal definitions of piracy, and discusses how the international community can best combat piracy in the HOA region from a maritime perspective. A review of historical responses to piracy includes the United States' response to Barbary pirates, the British response to Riff pirates, and the Chinese Response to East Asia pirates. The author proposes a multi-tiered, coalition-based naval force solution to piracy that uses all the traditional elements of naval power without resorting to nation building.