Foreword by Brian Wilson
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction The Oceans and the Genealogy of Piracy
Chapter 1 From Antiquity to the Golden Age
Chapter 2 Contemporary Piracy in Southeast Asia and East Africa
Chapter 3 Maritime Sector Responses
Chapter 4 Naval Strategy and Policy
Chapter 5 International Law
Chapter 6 Diplomacy
Chapter 7 International Criminal Prosecution
Appendix-Primary Documents
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982)
Convention on the High Seas 1958
Guidance to Shipowners and Ship Operators, MSC.1/Circ.1334
Recommendations to Governments, MSC.1/Circ.1333
National Strategy for Maritime Security
U.S. Piracy Policy
UN Security Council Resolution 1816, The Situation in Somalia
UN Security Council Resolution 1838, The Situation in Somalia
UN Security Council Resolution 1846, The Situation in Somalia
UN Security Council Resolution 1851, The Situation in Somalia
UN Security Council Resolution 1897, The Situation in Somalia
UN Security Council Resolution 1918, The Situation in Somalia
UN Security Council Resolution 1950, The Situation in Somalia
Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy (ReCAAP)
Arab-East African Djibouti Code of Conduct
Index

James Kraska, JSD, is Howard S. Levie Professor of Operational Law and Senior Associate in the Center for Irregular Warfare and Armed Group at the U.S. Naval War College, in Newport, RI. Kraska also serves as guest investigator at the Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and as senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

This volume provides a concise introduction to the issues and debates regarding modern piracy, including naval operations, law, and diplomacy, and focuses on the recent surge of attacks off the coasts of Africa and Asia.
In the past decade, the incidence of maritime piracy has exploded. The first three months of 2011 were the worst ever, with 18 ships hijacked, 344 crew taken hostage, and 7 crew members murdered. The four Americans on board the sailing vessel Quest were shot at point-blank range. The economic costs are also staggering, reaching $7 to $12 billion per year, as insurance costs skyrocket, ransoms double and then quadruple, and ships are forced to hire armed security for protection. Pirates operating off the Horn of Africa disrupt shipping traffic through the strategic Suez Canal, siphoning transit fees from an unstable Egypt, while the seizure of supertankers in the Indian Ocean underscores the vulnerability of the world's oil supply.
Governments, private industry, and international organizations have mobilized to address the threat. This is the first volume to examine their work in developing naval strategy, international law and diplomacy, and industry guidelines to suppress contemporary maritime piracy.
Contemporary Maritime Piracy: International Law, Strategy, and Diplomacy at Sea comprises three sections, the first of which contains chapters on historical and contemporary piracy, international law and diplomacy, and coalition strategies for combating future piracy. The second and third parts provide collections of historic profiles and relevant documents.