Somali Piracy: A Form of Economic Terrorism
Abstract Piracy over the years has been driven by geography, political instability and the availability of safe havens. Apart from these established factors, economics too play a role. This article reviews and examines Somali piracy, which has flourished due to the international community ignoring the growing instability in Somalia, the rampant illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping. It examines the international response, the legal and economic factors and advocates that piracy be viewed as a form of economic terrorism and be combatted as such, as well as by land-based operations.
THE PORT ATTRACTIVENESS INDEX: APPLICATION ON AFRICAN PORTS
The overall operational reputation of a port is based on objective factors, including infrastructure endowments and efficiency in the logistics chain as well as on perceived subjective factors such as reliability, and level of corruption. In this work we analyze the concept of port attractiveness, starting with the hypothesis that subjective port determinants (i.e., user perception) and objective/endogenous and exogenous factors can be quantified together. We thus determine the Port Attractiveness Index and test it using 41 container ports of 23 African countries for the period 2006-2010. We apply a bottom-up ap-proach to investigate the structural relationships among the three sets of deter-minants (endogenous, exogenous and subjective) that impact on port attractive-ness. Our methodological approach employs structural equation modeling. Results indicate that subjective factors are indeed influential variables for port attractiveness. Moreover, when examining port attractiveness and investment strategies, we demonstrate that in many cases in African ports governments should implement soft infrastructure as a first step rather than investing in hard infrastructures.
Of Pirates and Terrorists: What Experience and History Teach
In many important ways the activities of pirates menacing the world historically are analogous to those of international terrorists menacing the world today. This essay examines the history of piracy as it has occurred and recurred from ancient times to the present day. Emphasis is on conditions conducive to piracy's flourishing and strategies and tactics called upon to suppress it. Attention is also directed to the pirates themselves, particularly the pirate captains who again in many ways can be compared to terrorist chieftains active today. Piracy flourished when pirates were able to find safe havens, when laws against it were not enforced, when international cooperation floundered and when counter measures were reactive rather than proactive. Piracy was suppressed when governments were willing to muster the force necessary to physically eliminate the pirates, their abettors and their sanctuaries. In all of this there are important lessons for combating present-day international terrorism.