Foreign Policy Blogs

Pirates of the Aden

Somalia might be the most chaotic state in the world, to the point that it barely qualifies as a state any more. It's location on the Gulf of Aden means that Somalia also represents a sort of wild west for piracy. In the last two weeks two ships have been hijacked  off the coast of Somalia. The latest of these took place yesterday and involved the seizure of a ship, The Bunga Melati Dua, carrying palm oil from Indonesia to the Netherlands.

Instability on Africa's horn has a tremendous ripple effect on global politics. Somalia is ripe for not only regional destabilization and for this sort of piracy but also for radicals of all stripes, including radical Islamists.

 

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Author

Derek Catsam
Derek Catsam

Derek Catsam is an associate professor of history at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Derek writes about race and politics in the United States and Africa, sports, and terrorism. He is currently working on books on bus boycotts in the United States and South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s, the Freedom Rides, and South African resistance politics in the 1980s. He has lived, worked, and travelled extensively throughout southern Africa. He is also a lifelong sports fan, with the Boston Red Sox as his first true love. He was one of about three dozen people to write books about the 2004 World Champion Red Sox, and the result is Bleeding Red: A Red Sox Fan's Diary of the 2004 Season. He writes about politics, sports, travel, pop culture, and just about anything else that comes to mind.

Areas of Focus:
Africa; Zimbabwe; South Africa; Apartheid

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