Gulf Roundtable: A GCC Strategy for Counter-Piracy?

Pirates’ bounties have never been more bountiful in the Arabian Sea.  Despite a multi-national counter-piracy effort in the region, pirates are pursuing increasingly lucrative targets with unprecedented skill and sophistication.  The GCC states, whose economies rely heavily on maritime trade through the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, feel the piracy threat acutely but have thus far let the United States and Europe lead counter-piracy efforts.  Given the proximity of the threat, Richard “Ozzie” Nelson, director of CSIS’s Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Program, said GCC states have a “unique opportunity” to play a more proactive role in counter-piracy efforts in its waters.  Nelson, along with Vice Admiral Kevin J. Cosgriff, former commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, and Rupert Herbert-Burns, senior analyst at Risk Intelligence, assessed the threat piracy poses to the GCC and discussed opportunities for GCC cooperation on counter-piracy at a CSIS Gulf Roundtable event held on May 13, 2011.