Countering the Somali Pirates: Harmonizing the International Response
Richard Weitz
Richard Weitz is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute. His current research includes political-military developments relating to Europe, Eurasia, and East Asia as well as U.S. foreign, defense, homeland security, and WMD nonproliferation policies. Dr. Weitz heads the Case Studies Working Group of the Project on National Security Reform (PNSR). He is a graduate of Harvard College (B.A. with Highest Honors in Government), the London School of Economics (M.Sc. in International Relations), Oxford University (M.Phil. in Politics), and Harvard University (Ph.D. in Political Science).
Dr. Weitz has published in such journals as The National Interest, The Washington Quarterly, NATO Review, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, and Defense Concepts. His commentaries have appeared in the International Herald Tribune, Baltimore Sun, The Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal (Europe), and many Internet-based publications. He has published or edited several books and monographs, including Global Security Watch-Russia; a volume of National Security Case Studies; China-Russia Security Relations; Kazakhstan and the New International Politics of Eurasia; Mismanaging Mayhem: How Washington Responds to Crisis; The Reserve Policies of Nations: A Comparative Analysis; and Revitalizing U.S.–Russian Security Cooperation: Practical Measures.
Africa, International institutions, International security, Maritime piracy, Transnational crime
The growing threat to international shipping in the Gulf of Aden and neighboring regions from pirates operating off the shores of lawless Somalia has engendered an unparalleled global response. Over the past year, numerous international security organizations as well as national governments have organized many separate multilateral and single-country maritime security operations in the Horn of Africa region. Despite the unprecedented extent of this effort, this mishmash of ad hoc multinational and national initiatives has had only a limited effect. These various contingents typically have conflicting mandates and rules of engagement. They have also become fixated on responding to immediate problems rather than organizing a robust regional maritime structure, which could replace the foreign fleets when they inevitably withdraw.
Weitz, Richard. "Countering the Somali Pirates: Harmonizing the International Response." Journal of Strategic Security 2, no. 3 (2009): 1-12.