Piracy off the coast of Somalia is difficult to stamp out. Naval operations can alleviate the problem and are of decisive importance in ensuring the safe arrival of World Food Program (WFP) food aid consignments.

But in the longer term, such operations will not put a stop to the Somali pirates. According to Karl Sörenson, a security policy analyst at FOI,  there are two main reasons for this.

-Firstly, naval measures will have a limited effect on Somali piracy because piracy is more profitable than other activities. The pirates also appear to regard the risks as negligible. Doubt also has to be cast on the deterrent effect that the presence of international naval forces has on the pirates.

-The second reason is that piracy is always dependent on a state as an operating base. Somalia today is a failed state close to disintegration. It is therefore very difficult to get at the breeding grounds for the piracy. This can only be achieved through long-term methodical effort, but it is absolutely essential that this course of action should be followed, concludes Karl Sörenson.

The report to be published next week describes the Somali pirates, their significance for Somalia and the threat they pose to international shipping. The report forms part of a thematic study of Somalia which FOI’s Africa Group has been conducting this year which has focused on the problem of Somalia’s state structure and the clan system, the role of Islam in the current political situation and the political roles of Ethiopia and Eritrea in Somalia.