Armed Intervention and the Challenges of Maritime Security in the Gulf of Aden, 2008-2011

ABSTRACT

The economic collapse and civil war that ensued in Somalia after President Siad Barre gave rise to piracy, armed robbery and dumping of toxic wastes in and around the Gulf of Aden. The attendant humanitarian crisis attracted the intervention of the international community. This study evaluated armed intervention and the challenges of maritime security in the Gulf of Aden between 2008 and 2011. The objectives were to: (i) determine whether the application of the principle of political neutrality by the international community enhanced the intervention; (ii) explore whether the divergence in the interests of members of the international community undermined the task of combating piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf, and (iii) ascertain whether the intervention improved maritime security in the Gulf. The study was based on the ex- post-facto research design, and adopted qualitative method of data collection and analysis, using the social production and reproduction variant of the Marxian political economy approach. The study found that the application of the principle of political neutrality by the interveners did not enhance the intervention as it worked only in traditional armed interventions where the role of the intervening force was to police existing truce or settlement arrangements agreed to by both parties. Conflict of interests of the international community undermined the armed intervention as it provided the pirates the opportunity to pick and choose who and when to attack because of the lack of collaboration amongst the intervening forces. Finally, the armed intervention did not improve maritime security in the Gulf as the decline in the number of successful pirate attacks were due to the application of the Best Management Practices for Protection against Somalia Based Piracy (BMP4s), the use of private armed security guards on ships, and routing of ships away from the Gulf of Aden.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page
Approval Page
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Table of Contents 
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Maps
List of Abbreviations/Acronyms
Abstract 

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the Study

1.2. Statement of the Problem

1.3. Objectives of the Study

1.4. Significance of the Study

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Political Neutrality and Security in the Gulf of Aden...

2.2. Conflict of Interests, Piracy and Armed Robbery in the Gulf of Aden 

2.3. Armed Intervention and Maritime Security

2.4. Gap in the Literature ... ...

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1. Theoretical Framework ...

3.2. Hypotheses ...

3.3. Methods of Data Collection ...

3.4. Methods of Data Analysis ...

CHAPTER FOUR: HISTORICAL SURVEY OF SOMALIA AND THE GULF OF ADEN

4.1. Socio-Economic and Political History of Somalia

4.2. History of the Gulf of Aden

4.3. Background of the Conflict in Somalia

4.4. Background to the Maritime Insecurity in the Gulf of Aden ...

4.5. Background to the Armed Intervention in the Gulf of Aden ...

4.6. The United Nations and Somalia ... ... ... ...

CHAPTER FIVE: POLITICAL NEUTRALITY AND SECURITY IN THE GULF OF ADEN

5.1. Principles of Political Neutrality in Humanitarian Armed Intervention

5.2. Application and Applicability of the Principles of Political Neutrality in Failed States/Intrastate Conflict

5.3. The Principles of Political Neutrality and Security in the Gulf of Aden

5.4. Argument Against the Principle of Political Neutrality in Humanitarian Armed Intervention

CHAPTER SIX: CONFLICT OF INTERESTS, PIRACY AND ARMED ROBBERY IN THE GULF OF ADEN

6.1. Contributions to the Armed Intervention in Somalia and the Gulf of Aden 

6.2. Analysis of Interests of the Contributors 

6.3. Piracy and Armed Robbery Incidents in the Gulf of Aden, 2008-2011

6.4. Impact of Conflict of Interests on Piracy and Armed Robbery in the Gulf of Aden, 2008-2011

CHAPTER SEVEN: ARMED INTERVENTION AND MARITIME SECURITY

7.1. International Law Regime on Armed Intervention ... ...

7.2. International Law Regime on Piracy and Armed Robbery on the High Seas

7.3. Rationale for the Armed Intervention in Somalia 

7.4. Nature and Strategies of the Armed Intervention in Somalia and Gulf of Aden

7.5. Armed Intervention and Maritime Security in the Gulf of Aden: An Analysis 

CHAPTER EIGHT: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

8.1. Summary

8.2. Conclusion/Findings ...

8.3. Recommendations

Bibliography