Somali piracy is repeatedly associated with the historical specter of Barbary. Indeed, piracy off the Horn of Africa has matched the spread of conflict and chaos that allow criminal elites to assume power. The world now fears Somalia has become a safe haven for terrorists who wish to wreck havoc on the developed world. Western policy towards Somalia focuses solely on the country's poverty-stricken Islamic population, which, with its proximity to the Arabian peninsula, seems to be a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism and ripe for Islamist exploitation.

1. Introduction -- 2. Somalia: a failed state? -- 3. Somali piracy: 1989-2006 -- 4. Piracy and fishing -- 5.The principal piracy groups: 1996-2006 -- 6. The attack on the Seabourn Spirit and its consequences -- 7. A clan-based society -- 8. The Barre dictatorship and its aftermath -- 9. The rise and fall of the TNG and the rise of the TFG -- 10. Economic motivation for turmoil -- 11. Puntland: the piracy sanctuary -- 12. Somalia: without a government but not ungoverned -- 13. The growth of political Islam -- 14. The link to terrorism -- 15. The rise of the Islamic Courts Union -- 16. The ICU come to power -- 17. The ICU's fall -- 18. The return of the pirate gangs -- 19. The consequences of reward -- 20. Why piracy became so virulent: the political dimension -- 21. Why piracy became so profitable: the organizational dimension -- 22. Legal measures -- 23. The naval response -- 24. Somali piracy and terrorism -- 25. The further fall of a fallen state -- 26. Al-Shabaab and the growth of Islamism in southernSomalia -- 27. Somalia and Barbary -- 28. Conclusions.