Ganging up on Jolly Roger in Asia : International cooperation and maritime piracy

Thesis (S.M. and S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2008.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: He, Ruijie
Other Authors: Richard J. Samuels and M. Taylor Fravel.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46632
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author He, Ruijie
author2 Richard J. Samuels and M. Taylor Fravel.
author_facet Richard J. Samuels and M. Taylor Fravel.
He, Ruijie
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description Thesis (S.M. and S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2008.
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spelling mit-1721.1/466322019-04-11T11:22:41Z Ganging up on Jolly Roger in Asia : International cooperation and maritime piracy He, Ruijie Richard J. Samuels and M. Taylor Fravel. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Political Science. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Political Science. Political Science. Thesis (S.M. and S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-156). As non-traditional security threats such as terrorism and organized transnational crime gain greater prominence around the globe, the need for international cooperation against these non-state actors has consequently acquired greater urgency. Due to the cross-boundary nature of these activities, international cooperation is particularly critical for eradicating these threats. This thesis analyzes a particular instance of a non-state threat, maritime piracy, and uses it as a probe for understanding the nature of international cooperation vis-a-vis non-state actors. I observe a somewhat surprising trend while collating a database of all instances of international cooperation against maritime piracy throughout the world - Asia, and in particular Southeast Asia, has been the source of a disproportionately high level of international cooperation that is focused on eradicating the piracy problem. Furthermore, this trend has occurred even though Asia is often regarded as lacking the conditions necessary for international cooperation in the traditional security domain - binding multilateral institutions that can facilitate the institutionalization of cooperation agreements, as well as a hegemonic power with the ability to enforce cooperation. What has enabled international cooperation against maritime piracy to flourish in Asia, and what does this imply about non-traditional forms of security cooperation? I propose that non-traditional security cooperation has thrived in Asia for at least two unconventional reasons - the ability of non-binding institutions such as ASEAN to facilitate and promote non-traditional security cooperation, as well as the effective use of national coast guard agencies to avoid the political sensitivities that often result from security cooperation in the traditional domain. (cont.) I make these arguments by relying on evidence post-processed from two international datasets that I have collated - one on the instances of international cooperation against maritime piracy, and another on the geographical distribution of piracy attacks over time. It is hoped that these datasets, made publicly available for the first time, will be expanded upon for further research by the academic community. Finally, non-traditional forms of security threats appear to greater enable national governments to leverage off their commonality of interests to promote cooperation, and may even be an important confidence building measure for generating greater cooperation in the traditional security domain in future. by Ruijie He. S.M.and S.B. 2009-08-26T17:08:41Z 2009-08-26T17:08:41Z 2008 2008 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46632 426150608 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 156 p. application/pdf a------ Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Political Science.
He, Ruijie
Ganging up on Jolly Roger in Asia : International cooperation and maritime piracy
title Ganging up on Jolly Roger in Asia : International cooperation and maritime piracy
title_full Ganging up on Jolly Roger in Asia : International cooperation and maritime piracy
title_fullStr Ganging up on Jolly Roger in Asia : International cooperation and maritime piracy
title_full_unstemmed Ganging up on Jolly Roger in Asia : International cooperation and maritime piracy
title_short Ganging up on Jolly Roger in Asia : International cooperation and maritime piracy
title_sort ganging up on jolly roger in asia international cooperation and maritime piracy
topic Political Science.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46632
work_keys_str_mv AT heruijie ganginguponjollyrogerinasiainternationalcooperationandmaritimepiracy