The Horn of Africa: NATO and the EU as Partners Against Pirates

Abstract

Maritime crime off the Somali coast seriously threatened both global maritime trade and regional stability in the Red Sea basin. NATO, the EU, and other regional powers worked in close synergy, complementing the best management practices developed by the international shipping industry with policing operations at sea, such as NATO mission Ocean Shield and the EU CSDP operation EUNAVFOR Atalanta and capacity-building missions on land such as EUCAP Nestor/Somalia. The international response to Somali-based piracy succeeded in boosting the resilience of maritime trade thanks to an effective cooperation between all relevant stakeholders, offering some valuable lessons on future resilience-building initiatives.