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Maritime Piracy as a Challenge to Maritime Governance: A Critical Analysis of Counter Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea, endowed with vital and strategic resources, has for centuries served as an important region economically, socially, and politically. Since 2011, a substantial amount of time, research, human and financial resources have been dedicated towards this region, specifically, towards er...

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Main Author: Fuller, Emma-Jane
Other Authors: Akokpari, John
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Political Studies 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author Fuller, Emma-Jane
author2 Akokpari, John
author_browse Akokpari, John
Fuller, Emma-Jane
author_facet Akokpari, John
Fuller, Emma-Jane
author_sort Fuller, Emma-Jane
collection Thesis
description The Gulf of Guinea, endowed with vital and strategic resources, has for centuries served as an important region economically, socially, and politically. Since 2011, a substantial amount of time, research, human and financial resources have been dedicated towards this region, specifically, towards eradicating the threat of maritime piracy. Incidences of maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is not a recent phenomenon. While not new, the political interest in piracy has grown. Today, maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has become a significant element in the security make up of Africa, involving a myriad of actors through various forms and forums to counter the perceived threat it poses to international peace and security. A common question that informs the study of maritime piracy is ‘What threat does piracy pose to international security?'. This dissertation instead seeks to understand why piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is conceptualised as a major threat to maritime security, and how the phenomenon of maritime piracy is governed. Through this, it strives to understand what interests are protected through counter-piracy governance. The escalation of piracy is argued to be part and parcel of the growing global interest in the opportunities the Gulf bestows. The rush to address it is therefore motivated by the threat piracy poses to international interests, including energy, trade and commerce security. Given the growing international, regional, and national fixation on developing the ‘blue economy', and in the context of climate change and the history of inequitable resource governance, it is ever more critical to interrogate the ways in which the maritime space is governed and the types of behaviours this space accepts and rejects.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:51:48.181Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher Department of Political Studies
publisherStr Department of Political Studies
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37071 Maritime Piracy as a Challenge to Maritime Governance: A Critical Analysis of Counter Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea Fuller, Emma-Jane Akokpari, John Political Studies The Gulf of Guinea, endowed with vital and strategic resources, has for centuries served as an important region economically, socially, and politically. Since 2011, a substantial amount of time, research, human and financial resources have been dedicated towards this region, specifically, towards eradicating the threat of maritime piracy. Incidences of maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is not a recent phenomenon. While not new, the political interest in piracy has grown. Today, maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has become a significant element in the security make up of Africa, involving a myriad of actors through various forms and forums to counter the perceived threat it poses to international peace and security. A common question that informs the study of maritime piracy is ‘What threat does piracy pose to international security?'. This dissertation instead seeks to understand why piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is conceptualised as a major threat to maritime security, and how the phenomenon of maritime piracy is governed. Through this, it strives to understand what interests are protected through counter-piracy governance. The escalation of piracy is argued to be part and parcel of the growing global interest in the opportunities the Gulf bestows. The rush to address it is therefore motivated by the threat piracy poses to international interests, including energy, trade and commerce security. Given the growing international, regional, and national fixation on developing the ‘blue economy', and in the context of climate change and the history of inequitable resource governance, it is ever more critical to interrogate the ways in which the maritime space is governed and the types of behaviours this space accepts and rejects. 2023-02-24T11:55:11Z 2023-02-24T11:55:11Z 2022 2023-02-20T12:46:01Z Master Thesis Masters MSocSci http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37071 eng application/pdf Department of Political Studies Faculty of Humanities
spellingShingle Political Studies
Fuller, Emma-Jane
Maritime Piracy as a Challenge to Maritime Governance: A Critical Analysis of Counter Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Maritime Piracy as a Challenge to Maritime Governance: A Critical Analysis of Counter Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
title_full Maritime Piracy as a Challenge to Maritime Governance: A Critical Analysis of Counter Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
title_fullStr Maritime Piracy as a Challenge to Maritime Governance: A Critical Analysis of Counter Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
title_full_unstemmed Maritime Piracy as a Challenge to Maritime Governance: A Critical Analysis of Counter Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
title_short Maritime Piracy as a Challenge to Maritime Governance: A Critical Analysis of Counter Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
title_sort maritime piracy as a challenge to maritime governance a critical analysis of counter piracy in the gulf of guinea
topic Political Studies
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37071
work_keys_str_mv AT fulleremmajane maritimepiracyasachallengetomaritimegovernanceacriticalanalysisofcounterpiracyinthegulfofguinea