The G7++ Friends of the Gulf of Guinea is the most important global forum to coordinate the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea region. At this years plenary meeting Prof. Bueger, one of the directors of SafeSeas gave a presentation on December 3rd on how academic research can inform counter-piracy operations.
Taking the work of SafeSeas members, and in particular, the AMARIS project funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, as a starting point, Bueger argued that there are three principle ways of how practitioners can draw on academic research:
- Providing a better understanding of what the problem of piracy actually is by contextualising it, comparing it, and offering insights on structures, change and root causes.
- By analysing what works and what doesn’t and laying out new alternative actions not previously considered.
- In being directly part of the response, through awareness raising measures, science diplomacy or training and education activities