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Begin New Search Topic Maritime Political Geography Gulf of Guinea

1. European Union’s Role in the Maritime Security in Africa

Author:
António Gonçalves Alexandre
Publication Date:
07-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
Institution:
Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
Abstract:
The European Union depends on safe oceans for economic development, free trade, transport, energy security, tourism and a good marine environment. Maritime security stresses the importance of protecting the maritime domain from numerous threats, including disputes between states and various forms of transnational crime, but also the need to ensure a good order at sea, which is mandatory for the wellbeing and prosperity of the citizens. This paper aims to analyze the global maritime security production strategy followed by the European Union in Africa in the last decade and how it has influenced the protection of its member states’ interests in two of the most relevant maritime regions – the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. We argue that the EU has, in recent years, become a relevant global coproducer of maritime security in Africa and has even sought to strengthen its role in this area.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, European Union, and Maritime
Political Geography:
Africa, Horn of Africa, and Gulf of Guinea

2. Counter-piracy in the Gulf of Guinea must not overlook local struggle and suffering

Author:
Hans Lucht
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Climate change, illegal fishing, and environmental damage all contribute to the lack of security that coastal populations in the Gulf of Guinea suffer from. To Denmark, as well as several other European countries, the Gulf of Guinea remains an important region for commercial shipping. To enhance responses to piracy and crime at sea it is necessary to take a holistic approach which also considers the lack of opportunities for making a legal and sustainable living in the region.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Piracy, and Maritime
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Denmark, and Gulf of Guinea

3. Hybrid Maritime Security Governance and Limited Statehood in the Gulf of Guinea: A Nigerian Case Study

Author:
Okechukwu Iheduru
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
This article attempts to expand the scope of inquiry into “the market for force” as an important area of study in international relations by focusing on the privatization of aspects of maritime security governance in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) in West Africa and sets out to fill a persistent gap in the study of the privatization of maritime security as part of the normative shift in the global political economy that permits non-state actors to play prominent roles in security provision, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) in West Africa. Extant studies erroneously attribute the persistence and escalation of piracy incidents in the subregion to corruption, weak law enforcement, and grievances over high levels of poverty and unsustainable livelihoods that push coastal community members towards maritime criminality. While providing invaluable insights into contemporary piracy and the justification for a hybrid maritime security governance strategy and the transformations in international maritime law, these studies merely analyze the symptoms, rather than a theorization of the paradox that piracy and other maritime crime incidents have escalated at the same time that many GoG states have substantially modernized and, in principle, improved the anti-piracy capacity of national navies.
Topic:
Security, Governance, Piracy, and Maritime
Political Geography:
Africa, Nigeria, and Gulf of Guinea