Piracy and Maritime Crime: Historical and Modern Case Studies

Despite piracy's importance and the frequency of piratical attacks, relatively few scholarly works have been written analyzing cases of modern piracy and piracy suppression in terms of varying strategic, policy, and operational decisions. This collection of case studies attempts to fill this gap. It is intended as a contribution to both scholarship and professional naval thinking; it examines twelve case studies from maritime history to illuminate a range of concepts in piracy suppression. The twelve case studies provide the basis for the conclusions, an approach that provides a more thorough understanding of the uses and limitations of naval antipiracy operations in the context of new maritime technologies and within a wider range of modern national policy goals than might otherwise be achievable. Above all, this collection provides a sound basis for comparative analysis of varying historical experiences that can stimulate new and original thinking about a basic but often overlooked naval duty.