Publication

This paper provides a cost-benefit analysis of NATO’s "Ocean Shield" counter-piracy mission and makes recommendations for its drawdown in 2014. It first presents a situational overview of the Somali piracy threat and NATO’s response against it, and then outlines the costs, efficiency, and benefits of the "Ocean Shield" mission. In concluding, the author advocates a sustainable exit-strategy, which provides for the drawdown of naval assets, while at the same time ensuring that a local and regionally owned security architecture is left in place.