On September 25, a band of pirates hijacked a Ukrainian vessel laden with arms off the coast of Somalia. As the U.S. Navy surrounded the ship and Russian warships steamed south, the pirates demanded a ransom of $20 million to release the treasure on board: dozens of Soviet T-72 tanks, grenade launchers, and anti-aircraft guns. Attacks on commercial vessels have become commonplace along Somalia's lawless coast, but the seizure of the MV Faina upped the ante; both Washington and Moscow worry that the pirates could sell weapons to Islamic militants and further destabilize an already failed state. Three recent articles from Foreign Affairs provide an overview of the situation. In the November/December 2004 issue of Foreign Affairs, Gal Luft and Anne Korin warned that al Qaeda might take advantage of a growing nexus between piracy and terrorism. In the March/April 2005 issue, naval intelligence officer Charles Dragonette criticized them for exaggerating the threat. And in the March/April 2007 issue, John Prendergast and Colin Thomas-Jensen warned that the horn of Africa was the hottest conflict zone in the world and argued that the United States should promote conflict resolution and good governance in the region rather than focusing simply on counterterrorism.

• Full text of Luft and Korin's essay (November/December 2004)
• Full text of Dragonette's letter (March/April 2005)
• Full text of Prendergast and Thomas-Jensen's essay (March/April 2007)

Previously in Background on the News

Fixing Finance
September 24, 2008
As ongoing financial chaos upends Wall Street, pundits and politicians are debating the causes of the economic crisis and proposing solutions to it. . . . Read more

A New Cold War?
September 10, 2008
The Russian invasion of Georgia on August 8 has raised questions about the future of Washington's relations with Moscow, the strategic ambitions of the Medvedev-Putin regime, and the future of NATO enlargement in the Black Sea region. . . . Read more

China and the Collapse of Doha
August 27, 2008
In the past, China played a secondary role in international trade negotiations. Now, it is actively challenging the fundamental rules of the global trading system. . . . Read more

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