Category Archives: Somalia

Nineteen years after the collapse of the Somali government, a decade since impoverished Somali fishermen began arming themselves to ward off foreign fishing vessels and around two years since NATO, the E.U. and the U.S. Navy all formed counter-piracy forces for the Indian Ocean, sea banditry off the Somali coast continues unabated. By some measures, the problem has grown worse, with more pirates striking farther from the Somali coast — as far north as the Indian coast — and taking more hostages and holding them longer. To gain a sense of the progress, or lack thereof, of the international “war on piracy,” Offiziere.ch spoke to Dr. Martin Murphy, a Virginia-based piracy expert and author of the forthcoming book Somalia, the New Barbary? Continue reading →