While the title of this book
provides a glimpse into the subject matter covered,
Jeffrey Norwitz, in his introduction, provides a clearer
definition of what or who constitute these armed groups.
For our purposes, this edited
collection will consider armed groups to include
classic insurgents, terrorists, guerrillas, militias,
police agencies, criminal organizations, war-lords,
privatized military organizations, mercenaries,
pirates, drug cartels, apocalyptic religious
extremists, orchestrated rioters and mobs, and tribal
factions.
This
collection of essays covers traditional areas of
research, such as history, sociology, religion, and
economics, but also explores ethics, education, law, and
more. The introduction also summarizes each essay and
why its inclusion is important.
The essays in Part One, History
and Armed Groups, discuss pirates, Vikings, Teutonic
knights, Italian Red Brigades, Cambodia, East Timor’s
FRETILIN Guerillas, the Irish Republican Army, and
Counterinsurgency. Part Two deals with today’s context
and environment. These essays examine the threat at sea,
the law as it concerns armed groups, globalization and
transformation of these bodies, deterring them,
sanctuary and geopolitics, piracy, armed street gangs,
and prosecuting homegrown extremists. Part Three
concerns the role of religion, while the next section
concentrates on ways of rethinking how we look at armed
groups. The final group of essays peers into the future.
All the essays are written by respected experts in their
fields, some of whom have firsthand knowledge of these
armed groups.
Those essays of particular
interest to pirate researchers are:
- Peter
T.
Underwood’s “Pirates, Vikings, and Teutonic Knights”
discusses the three basic categories in which armed
groups can be classified with pirates being at one end
of the spectrum and the knights at the other end. He
clearly shows the differences and similarities between
these categories and how one can evolve from one to
another in a cyclical fashion. An aspect of particular
importance that is considered here pertains to tacit
government support.
- Rohan
Gunaratna’s
“The Threat to the Maritime Domain: How Real is the
Terrorist Threat?” talks about how terrorists and
guerrillas develop maritime capabilities and how
they’ve penetrated the seas in support of their
operations, as well as in mounting attacks.
- Martin
N.
Murphy’s “Piracy and the Exploitation of Sanctuary”
explores seven factors that permit piracy to grow, for
without policing the havens on land, piracy exists.
Then he looks at the future, particularly as it
pertains to four regions where these seven factors
allow piracy to be a problem.
All but one of the writings was
written specifically for this volume, so readers won’t
find the information elsewhere. That makes this a key
book for anyone delving into armed gangs. Each writer’s
credentials are provided to show why he or she is best
qualified to write on the topic. Endnotes and resource
lists are also provided, as is an appendix that contains
the United Nations Guidelines on Humanitarian
Negotiations with Armed Groups.
Norwitz concludes his introduction
with these words:
The purpose of this volume is to prepare
ourselves for when we discover, unexpectedly, that the
future is here.
To that end this goal is achieved,
and anyone who reads this book will not only have an
eye-opening experience, but will also come away with
much to digest and consider. Pirates,
Terrorists, and Warlords is an excellent resource
for those who wish to better understand the problem of
maritime piracy and terrorism, as well as other types of
armed groups, in today’s society and how we might best
deal with them.
Pirates
and Privateers
