Political Economy of Piracy in Somalia: Basis for a Transformative Approach

Abstract

This article examines the current wave of piracy off the coast of Somalia in light of political economy framework proposed by Michael Pugh and Neil Cooper. According to these authors, three types of economies flourish in protracted conflicts - combat economy, shadow economy, and coping economy - whose aims are, respectively, to finance combat activities, generate personal profits and provide minimum resources to the subsistence of poor and marginalized people. Based on empirical evidences showing that piracy in Somalia performs these three functions, one argues that the current international intervention against piracy is not sustainable because it does not seek to transform the factors and dynamics that make piracy an economically attractive alternative for local populations. For this reason, one proposes a shift on the Somali piracy agenda by adopting a critical perspective where piracy is no longer treated exclusively as a mere disruption of order at sea. Instead, one suggests a transformative approach where piracy is understood in its political economy dimension taking into account not only the local aspects, but also their regional links.