Piracy and anti-piracy politics is a topic that is not just of interest for historians but for international politics right now. The thread of piratical attacks is more prevalent than ever, attacks on the sea have increased over the last few years and are a major problem for the booming global seafaring. Piracy assaults have been reported from all over the world, with the hotspots of piratical activities at the Somali coast, the Red Sea, the Strait of Malacca, and the Indian Ocean. Nowadays, there is a clear understanding of what constitutes piracy and national and international laws condemn these activities. In the past, piratical activities were not that clearly defined and state-sanctioned attacks from so-called privateers against ships of enemy states were part of early modern warfare (p. 1). This book presents the multifaceted history of piracy and anti-piracy politics from a global perspective. The eight essays deal with case studies from Africa, Britain, the Persian Gulf, India, the Netherlands, Japan, and China. With this broad perspective, the book allows examining how different cultures dealt with the problem of piratical activities and how these activities were defined.
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