The popular concept of pirates is romantic, with images of swashbuckling bandits and parrots. But the reality is still with us, and the last five years have shown the world that piracy is a serious and deadly risk for those who dare to sail off the coast of Somalia.
This coming Thursday, February 3 at Bellarmine University, Dr. Raymond Gilpin will discuss the causes, costs and consequences of the surge in Somali piracy from the mid-1990s to the present. Gilpin is director of the economics and conflict center at the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) in Washington, D.C., where he analyzes relationships among economic actors during all stages of conflict, including prevention, mediation, resolution and post-conflict. Prior to joining USIP, Dr. Gilpin served as academic chair for defense economics at the National Defense University’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
Dr. Gilpin visits Bellarmine in part through the efforts of the World Affairs Council of Kentucky & Southern Indiana. His paper, “Counting the Costs of Somali Piracy,” is online at http://www.usip.org/publications/counting-the-costs-somali-piracy.
The lecture, which will start at 2 p.m., will be held at Hilary’s on the first floor of Horrigan Hall. Visitors who do not have Bellarmine parking passes are asked to park in the freshman parking area near the tennis courts; passenger drop-off is available in Franciscan Circle immediately to the north of Horrigan. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jason Cissell, Bellarmine’s director of media relations, at 272-8329 or jcissell@bellarmine.edu.
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Photo: Telegraph via Associated Press
