The emergence of private security governance. Assessing facilitating conditions in the case of Somali piracy

ABSTRACT

Facing the threat of Somali piracy, private actors have created a private security governance framework by both issuing and implementing standards as well as offering operative security solutions through armed guards. Which conditions have facilitated this provision of private security? The present article approaches this research question in two innovative ways: Theoretically, by deriving four conditions from the literature on private climate governance and applying them to the security realm; and empirically, by analyzing the activities of Private Military and Security Companies and the shipping industry in the case of Somali piracy based on a series of semi-structured interviews. Thus, the article contributes to the literature on private security in at least two ways: it provides an extensive understanding of private security incorporating operative and regulative elements and it uses insights about private governance from a more developed field in order to understand private security governance more systematically. The article concludes that all four conditions prominent in the literature on climate change – risk perception, involvement of capital markets, governmental inability, and commodification – can successfully be applied to the case of Somali piracy and explain the emergence and dynamic of private security governance.

KEYWORDS:

• Private security
• Somali piracy
• governance
• climate change

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the ECPR General Conference 2014 in Glasgow, where I greatly profited from the remarks of both the discussant and the audience. Furthermore, I want to thank Kerstin Martens, Klaus Schlichte, Georg Wenzelburger, and the anonymous reviewers for their encouraging and critical support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Helge Staff is a research associate at the chair of political economy and global governance at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. He works on issues of public and private security both within and outside of nation states.

Notes

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2 An interesting exception is the work by Deitelhoff and Wolf who explore security contributions by individual companies in post-conflict settings: Nicole Deitelhoff and Dieter Wolf, eds., Corporate Security Responsibility? Corporate Governance Contributions to Peace and Security in Zones of Conflict (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

3 Achim Hurrelmann et al., ‘The Golden-Age Nation State and Its Transformation: A Framework for Analysis’, in Transforming the Golden-Age Nation State, ed. Achim Hurrelmann et al. (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), 1–23.

4 James N. Rosenau, ‘Governance in the Twenty-First Century’, Global Governance 1, no. 1 (1995): 13.

5 Christopher Daase and Cornelius Friesendorf, ‘Introduction. Security Governance and the Problem of Unintented Consequences’, in Rethinking Security Governance. The Problem of Unintended Consequences, ed. Christopher Daase and Cornelius Friesendorf (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 1–20; Hans-Georg Ehrhart, ‘Security Governance transnationaler Sicherheitsrisiken. Konzeptionelle und praktische Herausforderungen’, in Security Governance in und für Europa. Konzepte, Akteure und Missionen, ed. Hans-Georg Ehrhart and Martin Kahl (Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2010), 25–50; and Elke Krahmann, ‘Conceptualizing Security Governance’, Cooperation and Conflict 38, no. 1 (2003): 5–26.

6 Emanuel Adler and Patricia Greve, ‘When Security Community Meets Balance of Power. Overlapping Regional Mechanisms of Security Governance’, Review of International Studies 35, no. 1 (2009): 65; Derick W. Brinkerhoff, Governance in Post-conflict Societies. Rebuilding Fragile States (Abingdon: Routledge, 2007); Alan Bryden and Marina Caparini, eds., Private Actors and Security Governance (Münster: LIT, 2006); Emil J. Kirchner and James Sperling, Global Security Governance. Competing Perceptions of Security in the 21st Century (Abingdon: Routledge, 2007).

7 Stephen Van Evera, Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997), 9–11.

8 Alan Bryman, Social Research Methods, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 47–8.

9 Andrew Bennett, ‘Case Study Methods. Design, Use, and Comparative Advantages’, in Models, Numbers and Cases. Methods for Studying International Relations, ed. Detlef F. Sprinz and Yeal Wolinsky-Nahmias (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004), 41–2.

10 John Gerring, ‘What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good For?’, American Poltical Science Review 98, no. 2 (2004): 348.

11 IMB, ‘ICC. International Maritime Bureau. Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships. Report for the Period 1 January–31 December 2010’, http://www.simsl.com/Downloads/Piracy/-IMBPiracyReport2010.pdf (accessed July 3, 2014); IMB, ‘ICC. International Maritime Bureau. Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships. Report for the Period 1 January–31 December 2015’ (received upon request).

12 Bryman, Social Research Methods, 471; Robert Kaiser, Qualitative Experteninterviews. Konzeptionelle Grundlagen und praktische Durchführung (Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2014), 30–1.

13 Philipp Pattberg, Private Institutions and Global Governance. The New Politics of Environmental Sustainability (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2007), 6.

14 Rosenau, ‘Governance in the Twenty-First Century’, 13.

15 Peter Newell and Matthew Paterson, Climate Capitalism. Global Warming and the Transformation of the Global Economy, Reprinted (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012); Jessica F. Green, Rethinking Private Authority. Agents and Entrepreneurs in Global Environmental Governance (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014).

16 Newell and Paterson, Climate Capitalism, 62–3; Achim Brunnengräber, Die Politische Ökonomie Des Klimawandels (München: Oekom, 2009), 190.

17 Newell and Paterson, Climate Capitalism, 62.

18 Ibid., 43–4.

19 Ibid., 65.

20 Jennifer Clapp and Jason Thistlethwaite, ‘Private Voluntary Programs in Environmental Governance. Climate Change and the Financial Sector’, in Business and Climate Policy. The Potentials and Pitfalls of Private Voluntary Programs, ed. Karsten Ronit (Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 2012), 60.

21 Ibid., 60.

22 Newell and Paterson, Climate Capitalism, 65.

23 Ibid., 65.

24 Ans Kolk, David Levy, and Jonatan Pinske, ‘Corporate Responses in an Emerging Climate Regime: The Institutionalization and Commensuration of Carbon Disclosure’, European Accounting Review 17, no. 4 (2008): 729.

25 Newell and Paterson, Climate Capitalism, 122.

26 Jessica F. Green, ‘Private Standards in the Climate Regime: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol’, Business and Politics 12, no. 3 (2010): 32.

27 Private Authority as understood by Jessica Green are ‘situations in which nonstate actors make rules or set standards that other actors in world politics adopt’ (Green, Rethinking Private Authority, 6). This adoption necessitates legitimacy which could be delegated by states but arises independently of them as well – for example, through private expertise (see Hall and Biersteker, eds., The Emergence of Private Authority in Global Governance; A. Claire Cutler, Virgina Haufler, and Tony Porter, eds., Private Authority in International Affairs (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999)).

28 Ibid., 32.

29 Jessica F. Green, ‘Order out of Chaos: Public and Private Rules for Managing Carbon’, Global Environmental Politics 13, no. 2 (2013): 2.

30 Newell and Paterson, Climate Capitalism, 118.

31 Ibid., 118–22.

32 Ibid., 78–9.

33 Ibid., 84.; Johannes Stripple and Eva Lövbrand, ‘Carbon Market Governance Beyond the Public-Private Divide’, in Global Climate Governance Beyond 2012. Architecture, Agency and Adaptation, eds. Frank Biermann, Philipp Pattberg, and Fabriborz Zelli (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 171–3.

34 Interview, Cyrus Mody (2014): Assistant Director, International Maritime Bureau, Commercial Crime Service, International Chamber of Commerce. Conducted April 22, 2014. London.

35 Oceans Beyond Piracy, ‘The Economic Cost of Maritime Piracy. One Earth Future Working Paper. December 2010’, http://oceansbeyondpiracy.org/sites/default/files/attachments/-View%20Full%20Report_4.pdf (accessed June 18, 2014), 9.

36 Sami Bensassi and Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso, ‘How Costly Is Modern Maritime Piracy to the International Community?’, Review of International Economics 20, no. 5 (2012): 879.

37 Interview, Mody; Interview, Peter Cook (2014): CEO, Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI). Conducted April 28, 2014. London.

38 Interview, Neil Roberts (2014): Lloyd’s Market Association. Joint War Committee/Joint Hull Committee. Conducted April 23, 2014. London.

39 Interview, Mody; Interview, Phillip Belcher (2014): Marine Director, INTERTANKO. Conducted April 25, 2014. London; Interview, Cook.

40 ITF, ‘Seafarer’s Bulletin, No. 24/2010’, http://www.itfseafarers.org/files/publications/21507/SB10_english-_inside.pdf (accessed June 18, 2014), 15.

41 Interview, Belcher.

42 Interview, Roberts.

43 Ibid.

44 Martin Stopford, Maritime Economics, 3rd ed. (Abingdon: Routledge, 2009), 244.

45 Rawle O. King, ‘Ocean Piracy and Its Impact on Insurance’, in Ocean Piracy, ed. Jacob E. Nelson (New York: Nova, 2010): 32–5.

46 Interview, Roberts.

47 Luis Lobo-Guerrero, ‘“Pirates,” Stewards, and the Securitization of Global Circulation’, International Political Sociology 2, no. 3 (2008): 232.

48 Allianz, ‘Piracy. An Ancient Risk with Modern Faces. An Insurer’s Perspective from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty’, http://www.agcs.allianz.com/assets/PDFs/risk%20insights/Allianz%20Piracy%20Study-%20%20June%202009.pdf (accessed June 19, 2014), 9.

49 Ibid., 8.

50 Interview, Roberts.

51 Ibid.

52 Allianz, ‘Piracy’, 9.

53 Interview, Roberts.

54 Ibid.

55 Interview, Belcher; Interview, Roberts.

56 Interview, Roberts.

57 Peter MacDonald Eggers QC, ‘Insurance Protection Against Piracy’, in Modern Piracy. Legal Challenges and Responses, ed. Douglas Guilfoyle (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2013), 270.

58 Ibid., 270–1.

59 Interview, Roberts.

60 Ibid.

61 Ibid.

62 Ibid.

63 Danish Maritime Officers/Citadel Solutions, eds., Coping with Capture. Hostage Handbook on Somali Pirates (Copenhagen), 108–9.

64 For the current smaller HRA, see the revised BMP4: MSCHOA, ‘Section 2 of BMP 4 effective 1 December 2015’, http://www.mschoa.org/docs/default-source/public-documents/revisedbmp4_sec2_guidance_practical_-measures_20151008.pdf?sfvrsn=2 (accessed March 11, 2016).

65 BMP4, ‘Best Management Practices for Protection Against Somalia Based Piracy. Version 4 – August 2011’, http://www.mschoa.org/docs/public-documents/bmp4-lowres_sept_5_2011.-pdf?sfvrsn=0 (accessed June 23, 2014), 86–7.

66 EUNAVFOR, ‘Mission. Where and How Does EU Naval Force Operate?’, http://eunavfor.eu/mission (accessed June 23, 2014).

67 Interview, Cook; Interview, Roberts.

68 EUNAVFOR, ‘Deployed Units’, http://eunavfor.eu/deployed-units/surface-vessels (accessed June 23, 2014).

69 EUNAVFOR, ‘Gulf of Aden Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor & Group Transit Explanation. August 2011’, http://www.shipping.nato.int/…/Group%20Transit%20explanation.-pdf (accessed June 23, 2014).

70 CMF, ‘CMF Hosts 21st SHADE Meeting. Combined Maritime Forces’, http://combinedmaritimeforces.com-/2011/09/27/cmf-hosts-21stshade-meeting/ (accessed January 28, 2013); Hans-Georg Ehrhart and Kerstin Petretto, ‘The EU and Somalia: Counter-piracy and the Question of a Comprehensive Approach. Study for the Greens/European Free Alliance’, http://www.greens-efa.eu/fileadmin/dam/Documents/Studies/Ehrhart_-Petretto_EUandSomalia_2012_fin-.pdf (accessed January 28, 2013), 28.

71 Interview, Belcher.

72 Interview, Cook.

73 Carolin Liss, ‘(Re)Establishing Control? Flag State Regulation of Antipiracy PMSCs’, Ocean Development & International Law 46, no. 2 (2015): 93–5.

74 BMP4, ‘Best Management Practices’, 81–5.

75 Stig Jarle Hansen, ‘The Evolution of Best Management Practices in the Civil Maritime Sector’, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 35, no. 7–8 (2012): 565.

76 A possibility pointed out by one of the anonymous reviewers.

77 Anna Leander and Rens van Munster, ‘Private Security Contractors in the Debate about Darfur: Reflecting and Reinforcing Neo-Liberal Governmentality’, International Relations 21, no. 2 (2007): 201–216; Krahmann, ‘States, Citizens and the Privatization of Security’, 51–83; Rita Abrahamsen and Michael C. Williams, Security Beyond the State. Private Security in International Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

78 BMP4, ‘Best Management Practices’, V.

79 Interview, Georg Klöcker (2013): Head of Marine Risk & Quality. Conducted November 5, 2013. Bremen; Interview, Belcher.

80 BIMCO, ‘Guardcon. Contract for the Employment of Security Guards on Vessels’, http://www.ukpandi.com/fileadmin/uploads/ukpi/Latest_Publications/Circulars/2012/GUARDCON-.PDF (accessed June 23, 2014).

81 Interview, Belcher.

82 Interview, Alexander Benecke (2014): CONDOR, International & Maritime Services GmbH. Conducted May 15, 2014. Essen.

83 BIMCO, ‘Guidance on the Rules for the Use of Force (RUF) by Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel (PCASP) in Defence of a Merchant Vessel (MV)’, https://www.bimco.org/∼/media-/Chartering/Document_Samples/Sundry_Other_Forms/Sample_Copy_Guidance_on_the_Rules_for_the_Use_of_Force.ashx (accessed June 23, 2014).

84 The 100 Series Rules, ‘The 100 Series Rules. An International Model Set of Maritime Rules for the Use of Force (RUF)’, https://100seriesrules.com/uploads/20130503-100_Series_Rules_for_the_-Use_of_Force.pdf (accessed June 23, 2014); Interview, Cook.

85 Interview, Cook.

86 Green, ‘Order out of Chaos’, 2.

87 Interview, Benecke.

88 Ibid.

89 Ibid.

90 Ibid.; Interview, Klöcker.

91 BIMCO, ‘Explanatory Notes to Guardcon’, https://www.bimco.org/∼/media/Chartering/Document_Samples-/Sundry_Other_Forms/Explanatory_Notes_GUARDCON.ashx (accessed June 23, 2014), 1.

92 Ibid., 4.

93 BIMCO, ‘Guidance on the Rules’, 6.

94 Hurrelmann et al., ‘The Golden-Age Nation State’, 10.

95 See, for example, Hans-Georg Ehrhart, Kerstin Petretto, and Patricia Schneider, ‘Security Governance als Rahmenkonzept für die Analyse von Piraterie und maritimem Terrorismus. Konzeptionelle und Empirische Grundlagen. PiraT-Arbeitspapiere zur Maritimen Sicherheit Nr. 1’, http://www.maritimesicherheit.eu/file-admin/content/news_events/workingpaper/PiraT_Arbeitspapier_Nr1_2010_Ehrhart-Petretto-Schneider.pdf (accessed March 14, 2016); Hans-Georg Ehrhart et al., eds, Piraterie und maritimer Terrorismus als Herausforderungen für die Seehandelssicherheit Deutschlands (Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2013); Liss, (Re)Establishing Control?

96 See, for example, Melanie Zimmer, ‘Oil Companies in Nigeria. Emerging Good Practice or Still Fuelling Conflict’, in Corporate Security Responsibility? ed. Nicole Deitelhoff and Dieter Wolf (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 58–84.

97 Renée De Nevers, ‘(Self) Regulating War? Voluntary Regulation and the Private Security Industry’, Security Studies 18, no. 3 (2009): 511, 516.

98 Deborah D. Avant, ‘Pragmatic Networks and Transnational Governance of Private Military and Security Services’, International Studies Quarterly, 60, no. 2 (2016): 330–342.

99 Elke Krahmann, ‘Choice, Voice, and Exit. Consumer Power and the Self-Regulation of the Private Security Industry’, European Journal of International Security 1, no. 1 (2016): 27–48.