Enrique Zelaya
The maritime domain has always held strategic and economic significance in regional security, but recent actions of both state and non-state actors are creating instability. The Yemen-based Houthi rebels have attacked merchant shipping vessels in the Red Sea through piracy, disrupting international trade for more than 44 countries. Additionally, China’s irregular fishing fleet, which doubles as paramilitary units, dubbed “little blue men” by the Philippines, seeks to advance China’s territorial claims in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
This gray zone aggression by state and non-state actors disrupts regional security through armed coercion that falls below the threshold of outright warfare. To maintain a competitive advantage, U.S. strategic planners should develop irregular strategies to deter state and non-state actors’ armed coercion tactics within the maritime domain.The reintroduction of privateering offers a compelling approach to today’s maritime domain challenges by helping the United States regain economic competitiveness and by creating regionally strategic security dilemmas for its adversaries.
This essay explores a new model of privateering, defined by the time-chartering of civilian vessels for sealift capability operating under the direct command structure of the U.S. government. This will enable the monitoring, detection, and interdiction of illicit maritime threats. This essay will also highlight how the new model of privateering provides a viable legal means of countering threats from state actors like China, as well as non-state entities such as transnational criminal organizations and violent extremist organizations.
The purpose of this new model of privateering is to provide offensive options to safeguard U.S. interests and enhance maritime domain awareness to enable regional security. This essay will define traditional maritime privateering and examine historical examples. It will also examine current laws against privateering, and modern applications that enable strategic advantage. Grounded in this analysis, it will provide a new U.S. military maritime concept to safeguard U.S. interests in an increasingly contested maritime environment.
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