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DySoC/NIMBioS Seminar Series

DySoC and NIMBioS are hosting a series of seminars on topics related to social complexity. Monthly seminars will be held at NIMBioS in Room 206, Claxton Building, 1122 Volunteer Blvd. Light refreshments will be served in Room 205 beginning 30 minutes before each talk. Faculty and students from across the UT community are welcome to join us.


B. Prins photo.

Speaker: Dr. Brandon Prins, Political Science, Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville

Time/Date: Monday, March 19, 2018, 3:30*

Location: Room 206, Claxton Building, 1122 Volunteer Blvd.

Topic: Pirate lands: Governance and maritime piracy

Abstract: With piracy in the Greater Gulf of Aden seemingly eradicated, some analysts suggest that attacks against shipping no longer remain a salient global security concern. But recent increases off the coast of Nigeria and around the Straits of Malacca confirm that the threat has not been entirely eliminated. While structural (country-level) indicators of poverty and institutional fragility correlate with piracy, local conditions on land proximate to anchorages and shipping lanes where incidents occur will likely provide additional leverage in explaining where pirates locate and why piracy endures. Existing research also suggests piracy may be connected to armed insurgency. As rebels seek resources to help fund their anti-state or separatist campaigns, piracy, like gemstones, oil, and narcotics, may serve as a means to pay fighters and purchase weapons. Spatially and temporally disaggregated analyses as well as the synthesis of research on civil war and maritime piracy will open up new lines of inquiry into the relationship between lootable resources and armed conflict.

Dr. Brandon Prins is Professor of Political Science at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and a Global Security Fellow with the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy. His research and teaching interests revolve around the conditions associated with political violence, including interstate and civil war, terrorism, and maritime piracy. Currently, Dr. Prins is engaged in three research projects. The first addresses the geo-spatial conditions associated with modern maritime piracy. This project was funded by the Office of Naval Research through the Minerva Research Initiative. The second project explores territorial contention among nation-states. The third project investigates the principal drivers of domestic terrorism in democratic states.

*Join us for refreshments at 3 p.m.

Description of Research project (pdf)

Seminar Flyer (pdf)

Video icon. Watch seminar online. This seminar was streamed live. Live-streamed seminars are archived for later viewing on NIMBioS' YouTube channel.

For more information about this and other NIMBioS Seminars, visit /announcements/seminars.



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From 2008 until early 2021, NIMBioS was supported by the National Science Foundation through NSF Award #DBI-1300426, with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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