"How is the pirate sacking of ancient Roman ports like Ostia connected to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on US soil? Why are pirates still a critical threat to nations, three hundred years after Blackbeard's death? And can the United States ever truly 'win' this seemingly endless 'war on terror'? The author, both jurist and historian, provides detailed answers for these and many other critical questions regarding piracy, terrorism, and the law in this volume. Gleaning evidence from an array of sources that date back to the golden age of piracy, the American Civil War, and yesterday's newspaper headlines, he proposes a new approach in our fight against international organized terrorism. And his proposal couldn't come at a better time, as shipping lanes become increasingly dangerous, the costs of oil and other goods are skyrocketing, more troops are deployed to areas of conflict overseas, and the United States continually stumbles in its attempts to seize and prosecute terrorists. He reveals connections between piracy and terrorism and in the process demonstrates how the community of nations can rid the world of terrorism, in all its forms, once and for all. In his efforts to redefine what it means to be a freedom fighter, a pirate, or a terrorist, he clarifies the US mission in its war on terror, transforming it from an unanswerable conundrum to a global fight against a global scourge that has already been waged, and won, before. What is the 'war on terror'? Almost a decade after 9/11, we are still no closer to understanding it. Today that war has become perpetual. We speak no longer of a future without fear, but only of postponing the next inevitable attack. But there is a way out of the woods. The author presents a revolutionary proposal: give international terrorists their proper legal recognition as enemies of the human race. In a word, pirates. Despite what images on the big screen lead us to believe, pirates are not the swashbuckling, rum-swilling, peg-legged bad boys of old; in fact, they never were. Compiling historical data and juxtaposing it with current events the author contends that pirates were the first international terrorists. In this book he lays out the case for joining piracy and terrorism, tracing the pirate wars from the Roman Empire to the attacks and hijackings off the Somali coast."-- From book jacket.