USAFRICOM's Role in Counter-Piracy Operations Within the Horn of Africa

Abstract

Maritime piracy in the Horn of Africa has increased significantly over the last several years and continues to plague the surrounding waterways despite an increase in the presence of U.S. and Coalition naval forces, and an increase in overall international awareness of the threats to maritime security. Piracy not only threatens security within territorial waters, it threatens the maritime trade vessels transiting through the international waters linking the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Piracy is a criminal act enabled by the "sanctuary" provided by the conditions on land. The current sea-centric strategies being employed by the United States and the international community are not targeting the root causes contributing to piracy within the Horn of Africa. In order to solve the threat of piracy within the Horn of Africa, USAFRICOM must take a more proactive role by promoting and encouraging the development of a regionally sourced, multinational coast guard and bolstering theater security cooperation efforts ashore.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 04, 2009
Accession Number
ADA503097

Entities

People

  • Dennis W. Sampson

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Coast Guard
  • Criminals
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Indian Ocean
  • Maritime Security
  • Military Organizations
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Oceans
  • Security
  • Terrorism
  • United States
  • United States Africa Command
  • United States Central Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • International Relations, focusing on Korea-Africa and North Korea-South Korea relations, and Nigeria-Latin American Relations.
  • Naval Engineering and Maritime Security
  • Strategic Security Studies