As stated by Burnett, “Blackbeard is long gone but a new and violent breed of pirate is taking his place, plundering ships in most oceans of the world” (9). The global phenomenon of contemporary piracy exemplifies modern trends which contribute to its reawakening. In modern day piracy, pirates are criminals who are driven by economic necessity. According to Martin Murphy, piracy can be referred to as a gang crime because the act of piracy occurs in small groups rather than individually (23). With more organized pirates, it is possible to make off with larger ransoms. For example, it is possible to take control of a large vessel and ransack it for all of its valuable cargo and money. Although money seems to be the underlying motivation for piracy,
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As stated by Burgess, “Just as piracy once drove the nations of Europe to declare it beyond the pale of state behavior, so too has twenty-first century piracy offered us a paradigm of how states can come together to combat an international scourge” (162). With the reduced amount of law enforcement and navy patrolling the waters, violence has shifted from occurring on land to the sea. This poses a huge issue not only for the United States, but for the majority of the countries in the world. Pirates are capitalizing on the weaknesses of water security and are proving to be a threat to the national security. Marley states that “some of the very innovations and improvements that have contributed so significantly to this exponential growth in our seaborne commerce, have also contained a few inbuilt seeds of future trouble” (33). With ships offering large ransoms and small amounts of men to operate the ship, these individuals are easily vulnerable to the advanced weapons used by pirates. Pirates historically have proven to engage in such activities because they were either forced against their will, needed to make a profit somehow with their recent unemployment, or they simply became pirates for the thrill of it, such as Stede Bonnet; however, contemporary pirates have shown a great shift in these tactics. The reasons for the existence of piracy are essentially the same as the motivations for the wrongdoing. Piracy is a low risk, high paying crime that will continue to exist until the weaknesses of the international laws regarding piracy are amended, and the waters are continually secured to prevent any future
As stated by Burgess, “Just as piracy once drove the nations of Europe to declare it beyond the pale of state behavior, so too has twenty-first century piracy offered us a paradigm of how states can come together to combat an international scourge” (162). With the reduced amount of law enforcement and navy patrolling the waters, violence has shifted from occurring on land to the sea. This poses a huge issue not only for the United States, but for the majority of the countries in the world. Pirates are capitalizing on the weaknesses of water security and are proving to be a threat to the national security. Marley states that “some of the very innovations and improvements that have contributed so significantly to this exponential growth in our seaborne commerce, have also contained a few inbuilt seeds of future trouble” (33). With ships offering large ransoms and small amounts of men to operate the ship, these individuals are easily vulnerable to the advanced weapons used by pirates. Pirates historically have proven to engage in such activities because they were either forced against their will, needed to make a profit somehow with their recent unemployment, or they simply became pirates for the thrill of it, such as Stede Bonnet; however, contemporary pirates have shown a great shift in these tactics. The reasons for the existence of piracy are essentially the same as the motivations for the wrongdoing. Piracy is a low risk, high paying crime that will continue to exist until the weaknesses of the international laws regarding piracy are amended, and the waters are continually secured to prevent any future