Why the U.S. Navy Should Not Be Fighting Piracy Off Somalia
Abstract
Piracy off the coast of Somalia has surged at an unprecedented rate over the past year, causing dozens of nations to send warships to the region in an effort to secure a strategic maritime chokepoint through which 23,000 commercial vessels transit each year. The U.S. Navy is heavily invested in the area, leading a multinational, counter-piracy naval coalition organized as Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151). However, in its current form, Somali piracy poses no legitimate threat to the national security of the United States and does not warrant the application of U.S. Navy operational assets toward its suppression. Through an analysis of the operational factors of space, time, and force, this paper will illustrate why the sea-based counter-piracy approach of CTF-151 will not succeed. It will also highlight strategic, legal, and economic reasons why the U.S. Navy should not be involved. It will discuss how a connection between Somali piracy and international terrorism would fundamentally change the equation, but that no such connection currently exists. Finally, the paper will offer the regional Geographic Combatant Commanders (GCCs) possible alternative courses of action, including an alternative operational scheme for CTF-151, worthy of consideration in formulating a long-term solution to the problem.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 04, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA503124
Entities
People
- Dennis M. Zogg
Organizations
- Naval War College