Abstract
The frequency and success of many piracy attacks today provide strong empirical evidence about the at-risk nature of coastal assets and underscores the vulnerability of all nations to attacks launched from the marine environment. Although terrorism and piracy are two distinctive acts, the possibility of a merging between its perpetrators has shaped the perceptions of media, governments, international organisations and major shipping authorities around the world. Particularly after the 9/11 incidents, the claims of a likely nexus between terrorism and piracy have been many. These mostly have been based on an understanding of terrorists as the actors bearing global or geographically wide-ranging aims. Having similarities in terms of history or methods notwithstanding, pirates and terrorists are still to a large extent separated by their own motives and goals that could keep them away from each other. Not only does this thesis explain why a nexus could occur between both acts in the form of sea-based threats, but it also studies contrasting argument of a nexus to not occurring. By looking at the findings of both theoretical and empirical perspectives on both activities, this thesis essentially seeks to provide the analysis on the likelihood of a merging between pirates and terrorists.