Introduction

Author: Murphy, Martin

Source: The Adelphi Papers, Volume 47, Number 388, June 2007 , pp. 7-10(4)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

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.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/05679320701508096

Publication date: 2007-06-01