The successful operation to free Captain Richard Phillips off the coast of Somalia is a small but significant victory for the Obama national security team. However, this small incident represents a much larger and continuing problem. The challenge going forward will be addressing piracy in the context of Somalia’s greater problems and the US’s many competing priorities -- and finding approaches that will be effective in the context of the difficult US history there.  

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In recent months pirates have successfully pulled off a number of high profile hijackings off the Horn of Africa. The most dramatic recent incident involves the hijacking of a Saudi supertanker with 2 million barrels of oil. These activities represent a threat to the international system and could hamper trade, significantly raise shipping costs, and impact world oil prices.

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