Modern Piracy on the High Seas

pla101prc said:

trust me i know my german history. the point is, the idea of compulsory nation building doesnt work. you have to realize that there is an entire social foundation behind modernization (and there are different modes of modernity for different nations i wont get into that any further). Germany was influenced by 1848 revolutions and took a easy train-ride during the second industrial revolution, Japan was fortunate to have a unique cultural and social formation that allows them to adapt to any sort of change without trouble. but either way there is a whole friggin social setting behind modernity, urban centres, concentration of labour, education, secularization, effective bureaucracy, private properties etc. does somalia have ANY of those? piracy is the least of the issues a somalian have to worry about. and piracy isnt an obstruction to the making of a social condition fit for modernity, it is the result. anyone that claims that if you take out piracy and somalia will modernize is wrong, because piracy is the symptom of the somali issues and it will only manifest itself in other forms even if you are lucky enough to eradicate this one.

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It was because they were not being invade,occupied/colonized,meddled with constently that allowed them to develop a functioning stable society prior to the development of industry.

I would rather leave Somalia to its own devices and try to mitigate the effects of Piracy on trans-oceanic trade than try to repeat 1992 or Iraq today.

I will not harp on Somalia because from reading these post Somalia is barely out of the tribal stage of development.

I have no problem with NGO & IGO trying to help to mitigate Human Suffering in Somalia.

cmb=1968 said:

Germany in the post Reformation era was relatively isolated until the late nineteenth century with the exception of the Napoleonic wars and developed in isolation until they became a unified nation in the 1860's.

Japan also followed a similar way on till the 1880's.

I will point out that South America, Africa, Asia were denied this luxury.

Prior the the mid sixteenth century most countries/Civilizations developed along this pattern of developing in isolation.

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Germany was relatively isolated? From the 1500s to 1800s, Germany was isolated compared to some European nations, especially those seeking worldwide imperialism, but Germany had a lot more access to international information and resources compared to all nations/communities in the world.

You could definitely argue the "Old" World and the "New" World developed with minimal interactions from each other until the end of the 1400s, but the former had significant internal interactions and the same for the latter.

Contrary to popular belief, the world has always been connected and very few nations and communities develop in isolation. From pre-ancient times to the ancient period to the medieval/feudal period to modern times, people have been traveling around and exchanging knowledge and goods. Modernity obviously has a lot more global relations than the past, but the past involved significant amounts of international exchanges.

Anyhow, we're going off topic. We're suppose to talk about modern pirates.

Mods note >> Gent you are way ff. So let's all...



bd popeye super moderator and grand pubah

Pirate attacks in the worlds best know hot spot, the Guld of Aden around Somaila, have droped significantly this year so far, accounting for basiclly the complete drop in attacks around the world thus far.
The different naval missions there are apparently having an impact. Navies are now going for pirate boats even before an attack.
I think it might be futher helpful to go even further in shore and basicly patrol a lot closer to the costline and watch who is actually going out there, or coming back in. I'm wondering if maybe even some basis can be monitored and activity relaid to the complete network that is out there. Obviously not every fisher village can be observed, but maybe some movement patterns. And perhaps one can even find a coordinating power behind some of the activities. While I'm sure all those pirats are not working together for a single company, I guess business has become lucrative enough that some are actually trying to get it organized to some extent.



Piracy Attacks Decline on Navies' Somalia Offensive

By Alaric Nightingale - (c) 2010 Bloomberg News - Thursday, July 15, 2010; 12:00 AM

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Piracy attacks worldwide declined 18 percent in the first half of the year as a more offensive naval presence around Somalia lowered the number of incidents.

Attacks globally fell to 196 from 240 in the same period last year, the London-based International Maritime Bureau said in a report today. Incidents in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and around Somalia fell to 98 from 144.

"The actions of the navies in the Gulf of Aden have been instrumental in bringing down attacks there," IMB director Pottengal Mukundan said in a statement. Incidents also fell in the first quarter.

The European Union's naval mission has adopted a "more offensive approach" to Somali assailants, hunting them down at sea before they can attack, the force's commander, Rear Admiral Jan Thornqvist of the Swedish Navy, said in June. [...]

Combined with a North Atlantic Treaty Organization fleet, a U.S.-led fleet, as well as individual warships from countries such as Russia, China, India, Japan and Malaysia, there are about 30 warships engaged in anti-piracy missions off the Horn of Africa.