10th Security Forum

10th Security Forum10th Security Forum10th Security Forum10th Security Forum



On April 21, the IR Department organized the 10th Security Forum on “Piracy and Security on the High Seas.” The event benefited from two outstanding keynote speakers: Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, President of the World Maritime University, and Amb. Maurizio E. Serra, Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN Office in Geneva and Other International Organizations.

About sixty persons participated in the forum, which was divided into four sessions: 1) Navies and Anti-Piracy Operations (Cdr. Giulio Piroddi, Capt. Eric Steinmyller, Dr. Michel Veuthey and Dr. Oreste Foppiani); 2) Diplomacy, International Law and Piracy (Mr. François Campagnola, Dr. Flavia Zorzi Giustiniani and Dr. Pierre-Etienne Bourneuf); 3) Shipping, Cruise, Energy Companies and Piracy (Mr. Michele Caracciolo di Brienza, Dr. Susanne Peters, Mr. Mark W. Lowe and Mr. Richard Watts); 4) Terrorism and Piracy (Mr. Robert J. Parsons, Ms. Mehrnaz Tohidi, Mr. Paolo Quercia and Dr. Jubin M. Goodarzi).

The panelists highlighted the fact that although in the last five years piracy decreased substantially in areas such as the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden, it is still a major problem in the Central Indian Ocean, in the Far East and, in particular, in the Strait of Malacca. Among the different issues related to piracy and security on the high seas, two in particular aroused the interest of the audience: the current statistics on attacks, ransoms, and casualties, and the diplomatic incident concerning the two Italian marines still officially under investigation in India. In addition, the feedback of coast guard and navy officers was of paramount importance to analyze this odious crime.

During the forum, renowned diplomats and scholars, experienced political analysts and journalists, as well as brave coast guard and navy officers, stressed the importance of cooperation among navies and countries to fight a despicable phenomenon, which still generates huge revenues for organized crime and has now become a vehicle of international terrorism.