Contemporary Piracy and Maritime Terrorism

by Martin N. Murphy

Do piracy and maritime terrorism, individually or together, present a threat to international security, and what relationship if any exists between them?

Piracy may be a marginal problem in itself, but the connections between organised piracy and wider criminal networks and corruption on land make it an element of a phenomenon that can have a weakening effect on states and a destabilising one on the regions in which it is found. Furthermore, it is also an aspect of a broader problem of disorder at sea that, exacerbated by the increasing pressure on littoral waters from growing numbers of people and organisations seeking to exploit maritime resources, encourages maritime criminality and gives insurgents and terrorists the freedom to operate. In this context, maritime terrorism, though currently only a low-level threat, has the potential to spread and become more effective in the event of political change on land. It is only by addressing the issue of generalised maritime disorder that the problems of piracy and maritime terrorism may be controlled in the long term.

112 pages, Paperback

First published July 16, 2007

Reviews

[Aniha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent introduction to the topic, and written in layman's language. Could do with some more case studies though

[Dave Beeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a poorly written grad student thesis paper. A couple of nuggets of information but most of the book talks about common knowledge issues that are already well known.