How Piracy is Affecting Economic Development in Puntland, Somalia

The international community has united in its mission to halt the hijacking of merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea with a massive naval presence that monitors the vast, strategic seas in which Somali pirates operate. This naval presence consequently has had some success in reducing pirate attacks in 2012, but why are the Somalis turning to piracy in the first place? The economic history of piracy has been well documented with other former “pirate hotspots” worldwide; however, there is little data available on the microeconomic affects of piracy. This article explores the underlying reasons of why Somalis have turned to piracy as a “profession,” and offers recommendations for the international community to eliminate piracy effectively through non-military means.