Publications
Publications
- December 2017
- HBS Case Collection
Piracy in Somalia (A)
By: Sophus A. Reinert and Alissa Davies
Abstract
A Somali fisherman stands on a beach in early 2011, considering his options: should he embark in his tiny fishing vessel or join a nearby pirate crew? His war-ravaged country, entering its 20th year of civil war, was in the midst of a famine that had claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and piracy had recently become the country’s greatest claim to fame, securing ransoms to the tune of millions of U.S. dollars in one of the poorest corners of the global economy. Why had piracy become such an attractive option for Somalis? Why did some even consider it “just,” and how could maritime trade be made safer again?
Keywords
Pirates; Foreign Aid; Civil War; Private Property; Human Rights; Economic Development; Globalization; War; Property; Crime and Corruption; Rights; Development Economics; Moral Sensibility; Shipping Industry; Somalia
Citation
Reinert, Sophus A., and Alissa Davies. "Piracy in Somalia (A)." Harvard Business School Case 718-018, December 2017.