This article sites that there are still nearly a dozen ships off the coast of Somalia that are under the control of pirates. This includes the MV Faina, a Ukranian ship with tanks and other arms on board.
The United States, Russia and NATO have become increasingly involved in the MV Faina hijacking, and it seems (at least to me) that piracy in Somalia has been gaining much attention over the last couple of weeks.
Since code of international law is murkier on water than on land, it seems these pirates have found an effective source of income. There's a couple of things to think about here.
1) What incentive do the pirates have in hijacking ships and demanding random? Can anything be done to assist their households in gaining self-sufficiency through legitimate work or education?
2) Who do the pirates work for? If they are working for themselves, then point number 1 is appropriate. If they work for conglemorates, what is being done about the source, ie: the leaders, of these piracy groups?
3) Why does Somalia need the surveillance and counter-terrorist abilities of three, very powerful groups, ie: the US, Russia and NATO?
4) If Somalia is being seen as a concentrated area for this kind of activity, can policy makers establish secure boundaries (both literally and figuratively in terms of law) around Somalia's coast?
These are just food for thought that have driven me to follow the issue through these past few weeks. It may well be that some of these pointers have been addressed over years before today, and agreements just haven't been reached (which sucks, because then you get Ukranian ships hijacked with an $8 million price tag).
Having said this, the policy-shaping realm seems to be changing forevermore. Yes the US economy is heavily involved, but so are other factors, such as an increasingly restless generation that is always settling in different places in the world, or the ease with which people can communicate cross-culture/boundary/background.
Just my Sunday thoughts.
ak
The United States, Russia and NATO have become increasingly involved in the MV Faina hijacking, and it seems (at least to me) that piracy in Somalia has been gaining much attention over the last couple of weeks.
Since code of international law is murkier on water than on land, it seems these pirates have found an effective source of income. There's a couple of things to think about here.
1) What incentive do the pirates have in hijacking ships and demanding random? Can anything be done to assist their households in gaining self-sufficiency through legitimate work or education?
2) Who do the pirates work for? If they are working for themselves, then point number 1 is appropriate. If they work for conglemorates, what is being done about the source, ie: the leaders, of these piracy groups?
3) Why does Somalia need the surveillance and counter-terrorist abilities of three, very powerful groups, ie: the US, Russia and NATO?
4) If Somalia is being seen as a concentrated area for this kind of activity, can policy makers establish secure boundaries (both literally and figuratively in terms of law) around Somalia's coast?
These are just food for thought that have driven me to follow the issue through these past few weeks. It may well be that some of these pointers have been addressed over years before today, and agreements just haven't been reached (which sucks, because then you get Ukranian ships hijacked with an $8 million price tag).
Having said this, the policy-shaping realm seems to be changing forevermore. Yes the US economy is heavily involved, but so are other factors, such as an increasingly restless generation that is always settling in different places in the world, or the ease with which people can communicate cross-culture/boundary/background.
Just my Sunday thoughts.
ak
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