Piracy: irritating nuisance or broken window?

Rob Farley and I have a bloggingheads exchange about piracy.  Actually, it’s mostly me asking Rob questions and floating ridiculously stupid policy options.  In the end, Rob thinks the cost of any policy response vastly outweighs the actual cost of piracy itself.  One of the commenters to the diavlog raised an interesting question:  Pirates are ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

Rob Farley and I have a bloggingheads exchange about piracy.  Actually, it's mostly me asking Rob questions and floating ridiculously stupid policy options.  In the end, Rob thinks the cost of any policy response vastly outweighs the actual cost of piracy itself. 

Rob Farley and I have a bloggingheads exchange about piracy.  Actually, it’s mostly me asking Rob questions and floating ridiculously stupid policy options.  In the end, Rob thinks the cost of any policy response vastly outweighs the actual cost of piracy itself. 

One of the commenters to the diavlog raised an interesting question: 

Pirates are the "squeegee men" of international relations, it seems to me. They don’t do that much economic damage in the grand scheme of things, but they do help to create a sense of uncontrollable lawlessness that may contribute to other, more dangerous problems. If that’s true, the application of some "broken windows" policing may be of value in dealing with them – it could provide a common project for nations to cooperate on, and it would be a concrete step that nations could take in defense of civilization in general. Such a project might not be a bad thing in itself, and more importantly, it might get nations in the habit of considering how to protect civilization itself.

I don’t think this analogy holds up very well, in that a) Somalia appears to be a truly sui generis case; and b) you could pour as many naval resources into the area as you’d like, and it’s still a very, very, very large body of water.  

Still, I’m curious if readers find this analogy persuasive.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.