Analysis: Why modern navies fear Somali pirates

Ruth Wedgwood writes of the legal issues that make navies fear the Somali pirates in the current issue of the American Interest. She says that the two key issues are: (1) Definitions in piracy law distinguishing between territorial waters and "high seas." (2) A "modern reinterpretation of the duty of non-refoulement" which prevents captured pirates being sent to jurisdictions with cruel punishments or primitive imprisonment.