Peter Chalk

• RAND Corporation

This article examines the current international response to piracy and armed robbery off the Horn of Africa (HoA). It first describes the measures that are presently in place before going on to assess the relevance of these responses, both in terms of serving as a viable deterrent and in the context of addressing the root causes driving armed marit...

Why has international piracy re-emerged as a threat to international shipping? The article introduces the factors that influence modern piracy, and explore the causes of it in more general terms. This introduction provides an overview of the scope and dimensions of modern-day piracy. It looks at problems of definition, statistics, location of attac...

Share on Facebook30 Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn0 Download Purchase DOWNLOAD EBOOK FOR FREE Full Document Format File Size Notes PDF file 2.5 MB Technical Details » Summary Only Format File Size Notes PDF file 0.2 MB Technical Details » This monograph is the second of two volumes that examine how countries confronting insurgencies transition...

The rash of pirate attacks off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden in 2008 has cast into sharp light an enduring problem that affects not only the waters around the Horn of Africa but many other areas of the world as well. This paper aims to inform and put into context the current debate on piracy by providing an overview of the scope and factors driving...

This testimony aims to inform and put into context the current debate on piracy by providing an overview of the scope and contributing factors driving armed maritime violence in the contemporary era and the principal dangers associated with this particular manifestation of transnational crime. Given the publicity and unprecedented character of the...

The unprecedented losses brought about by the attacks of 11 September 2001 have cast the issue of terrorism risk insurance into sharp relief. In particular, it has raised questions as to whether attacks on this scale are an insurable risk and the extent to which the private insurance industry is able and/or willing to price such risks independent o...

Pakistan confronts numerous domestic security challenges including jihadist extremism, Sunni-Shi'a sectarian violence, drug trafficking, illegal commodity smuggling, endemic corruption, and systemic problems with the provision of justice and law enforcement. While much has been written about US military assistance to the Government of Pakistan (GOP...

The "al-Qaeda universe" does not incorporate the entirety of the terrorist threat or potential threat. A number of other militant groups threaten U.S. regional interests or allies and pose a potential direct threat to the United States. This volume, Part 2 of the study, focuses on three categories in this "second circle" of terrorist groups: (1) te...

Continuing conflicts between violent groups and states generate an ever-present demand for higher quality and more timely information to support operations to combat terrorism. In particular, better ways are needed to understand how terrorist and insurgent groups adapt over time into more-effective organizations and increasingly dangerous threats....

In light of 9/11 and the war on terrorism, it is important for U.S. leaders to develop a shaping strategy toward the Muslim world. This study describes a framework to identify major ideological orientations within Islam, examines critical cleavages between Muslim groups, and traces the long-term and immediate causes of Islamic radicalism. It also o...

Most studies on Middle East security focus on traditional threats such as military aggression and terrorism. This draft report examines the scope and dimensions of a broadened regional security agenda. It focuses on three specific issues: the opium trade in Central and Southwest Asia; unregulated population movements from the Persian Gulf, Afghanis...

Over the past decade, many states, particularly in North America and Western Europe, have made substantial investments in improving their ability to detect, prevent and respond to terrorist threats and incidents. This has fed into an increasingly well-protected public infrastructure throughout much of the developed world where, at a minimum, effect...

Islamic insurgent movements in southern Thailand, the southern Philippines and Aceh represent, arguably, the most visible signs of armed separatism in Southeast Asia today. The roots of ethno–religious unrest in each of these regions stem from the same basic factors: insensitivity to local concerns, regional neglect, military repression and the con...

The end of the Cold War has brought greater freedom of movement opportunities for people and goods in many countries, particularly those of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. At the same time, the economic success of capitalism and its accompanying system of materialism has led to the so-called dollarisation of the globe, whereby to posses...

Far from being made redundant by the end of the Cold War, terrorism remains the favoured instrument of the extreme and politically disaffected. Indeed in many ways, the practice has become even more complex, multifaceted and lethal. It continues to affect many regions of the world, particularly in the third world, repeatedly demonstrating its abili...

When dealing with terrorism as a threat to liberal democracy, it is a common assumption that it is the terrorists — who by definition refuse the rules of the liberal democratic “game”— who pose the greatest threat to the underlying principles and freedoms that are enshrined in this form of political life. However, in instances where the state fails...

A debate is currently taking place in international relations theory between internal/contractual and external/universalist ideas of political and moral obligation. This paper will undertake a policy-oriented analysis of the tension between these two approaches to obligation by examining the contemporary issue of refugees-an area where the tension...

This article will provide an overview of one specific non‐military threat that is beginning to assume greater prominence on south‐east Asia's broadened security agenda: political terrorism.1 Although by no means new to the south‐east Asian environment, for much of the twentieth century its importance was sidelined and, in a sense ‘contained’, by th...

This paper analyzes the contemporary dynamic of maritime piracy in the Southeast Asian region. Having first discussed the main trends in terms of incidents, type of attack, geographic location, and facilitatory factors, an analysis is made of the main countermeasures that have been initiated in an attempt to control this particular maritime threat....

This article examines the process of conflict resolution in the southern Philippines, paying particular attention to the peace agreement that was signed between President Ramos and Nur Misuari, the leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), in 1996. Having traced the historical background to the conflict on Mindanao, the article analyses...

‘One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’ Although this is a much overused and, to many, trite cliché, it does, nevertheless, capture a central problem in the study of terrorism: the failure to establish a universally accepted definition of the concept under study. Indeed, certain commentators believe there to be no definition of terr...

Given the unanimity of their democratic commitments, a set of homogeneous legal norms and, above all, a common interest to suppress terrorism, one would have thought that achieving a comprehensive level of antiterrorist cooperation within the EU would not be a particularly difficult task. However, while this is essentially correct, it is also true...

This article examines some of the key principles that should guide a liberal democratic state's response to terrorism, if it responds in a manner which is effective and consistent with its own principles. The author proceeds by examining four areas where the tension between democratic acceptability and effectiveness is seen to be greatest. A model...

The article examines the effectiveness of the Maastricht Third Pillar's internal security provisions with respect to the fight against terrorism. An assessment of EU internal security cooperation is made from a perspective that takes into account questions of both operational anti‐terrorist proficiency and democratic acceptability. Police and secur...

Defeating the global jihadist movement--which we define as al-Qaeda and the universe of jihadist groups that are associated with or inspired by al-Qaeda--is the most pressing security challenge facing the United States today. The global jihadist movement can be distinguished from traditional or local jihads, which are armed campaigns conducted by I...

The regional terrorist threat remains high on the list of Australia’s national security priorities. But the absence of a major bombing campaign in recent years has prompted some commentators to argue that we have seen the end of jihadist violence in Southeast Asia. Nearly six years after the first Bali bombings, it is time to take stock of the regi...