The Rise and Fall of Somali Pirates

The Rise and Fall of Somali Pirates
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Are Somali Pirates the Robin Hoods of the sea? How piracy in East Africa went from frustrated Somali fishermen to highly organized crime networks.
My next video is live on Nebula NOW! It's about the dark side of Olive Oil - a story that involves widespread corruption and Italian Mafia bosses. Watch now: nebula.tv/videos/johnnyharris...
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Thank you to the experts we spoke with that helped with our research in this story:
- Dr. Brandon Prins for the maritime piracy event and location data maps: brandonprins.weebly.com/miner...
- Cyrus Mody, Deputy Director of the International Maritime Bureau
- Matt Bryden, Strategic Advisor at Sahan Global
- Michael Scott Moore, American journalist and novelist
-- Video Chapters --
0:00 Intro
2:24 Ad Read
5:23 Pirates
8:42 The Rise
17:40 The Height
22:45 The Global Response
25:08 The Fall
27:14 Credits
27:36 Announcements and Outro
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About:
Johnny Harris is an Emmy-winning independent journalist and contributor to the New York Times. Based in Washington, DC, Harris reports on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe, publishing to his audience of over 3.5 million on KZbin. Harris produced and hosted the twice Emmy-nominated series Borders for Vox Media. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways.
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[@johnnyharris]

The music for this video, created by our in house composer Tom Fox, is available on our music channel, The Music Room! Follow the link to hear this soundtrack and many more: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGOWfqp6gL2XjtU

[@TvGunslingeRvT]

Please make a video about Armenia Azerbaijan Nagorno karabakh war. Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory occupied by Armenia.

[@NakhchivanRepublic]

Karabakh is Azerbaijan. Can you make a video about Armenia Azerbaijan Nagorno karabakh conflict.

[@AngrySheepClips]

Make a video about the Nagorno Karabakh war. Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory occupied by Armenian separatists.

[@mammadgarakhanli]

Armenia occupied Azerbaijani territories in 90's. Please make a video about it.

[@simpcorpsofazerbaijan]

Please make a video about Armenia Azerbaijan Nagorno karabakh conflict. Armenian forces surrendered today.

[@DriesVersch]

I will never forget how a Belgian film director, in collaboration with the authorities, managed to lure a Somali pirate to Belgium under the pretext of being an expert in a film about his own life. When the pirate landed in Brussels, he was promptly arrested and trialed for hijacking a Belgian ship. He is still in prison to this day.

[@taylorbug9]

So wait, He got in trouble because the Belgians were over in their waters, stealing their sh_t because their country was vulnerable and without protection? And you're on the side of the people stealing from and them and jailing the people trying to stop the thieves. Are you mad????

[@delfinenteddyson9865]

really sounds like a waste of taxpayer money

[@timmyjimmy3647]

​@@delfinenteddyson9865nah, it's worth the W

[@cammysmith7562]

@@taylorbug9 stealing? It’s a cargo ship transporting goods through international waters. That’s not illegal.

[@ricardo8549]

After serving his sentence will he be a Belgian citizen? I don't know if it was a good idea.

[@SneakyCaleb]

I’ll never forget in 7th grade I did a report on these pirates in front of the class. I worked really hard on it just to have my teacher laugh and say pirates don’t exist in 2011. The rest of the class laughed at me as well. I came home and my dad was furious. He knew I didn’t work hard on much of my schoolwork so when I did he was upset to hear the teacher laughed. Rip dad I’ll never forget that

[@NewGoldStandard]

It must have felt a little nice when Captain Phillips came out a couple years later and Somali pirates became a household term. And screw crappy teachers, by the way! Also, sounds like your dad was a good guy. Cheers.

[@salvador.garcia]

​​@@NewGoldStandardprobably only he remembers being laughed at, by the time the movie came out. Those who do harm rarely remember it for long (at least when they do it without premeditated malice).

[@ViraL_FootprinT.ex.e]

Hearing about that teacher has me enraged right now actually. Even if I hadn't known about the Somali pirate situation, I would still just assume that piracy exists in any era.

[@NewGoldStandard]

@@salvador.garcia Yeah, you're probably right. I still like thinking that the teacher was like, "ugh, I totally messed up..." But, yeah, probably not.

[@kap849]

​@@ViraL_FootprinT.ex.eor just looked it up on the internet 🤦🏾‍♀️. Poor kid.

[@Albrecht87]

I remember back in 2008-2010 when I was studying in uni, I was reading about Somali pirates every week. I totally forgot about them until this video. Nice to see there was a solution to the piracy problems there - stories of people being abducted was really sad during those times.

[@kienngo4601]

There wasnt. ☠️☠️☠️

[@Veneer22]

This was such a great episode man! And you're not just a great journalist, but a great story teller as well.

[@qasimseerar1827]

Hi Johnny, I’m a Somali living in Bari and I really appreciate your video about the Somali pirates. You did a great job of explaining the history and the context of piracy in Somalia, and how it affected the people and the region. I especially liked how you showed the map of Somalia and its disputed territories with Ethiopia and Kenya. You are one of the few journalists who tell the truth about Somalia and its challenges. Thank you for your work and your curiosity. I hope you will make more videos about Somalia and other African countries in the future. Keep up the good work! 👏👏👏

[@Controlled_Opposition]

😊

[@nextgeek6659]

In Italy?

[@notmyself2533]

Sorry for my people making big mistakes in the west

[@notmyself2533]

We do it to our own people too

[@Solid_Snake88]

​@@notmyself2533 We did nothing wrong. Don't apologize for something you didn't do, never bow to someone else for their own problems.

[@TimeBucks]

Appreciate the backstory on this

[@mukhtiarahmedsoomro1994]

Nice 🙂🙂

[@nilanjananilanjana6588]

Good 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@MWaqasDullo]

👍

[@shehusule7525]

Very nice

[@parvinakter8750]

Nice

[@Chilinda_GA]

Okay, I have fallen in love with this channel. You prepare and put really relevant topics. Learning a lot from you, and so I'm hoping you keep this up. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@DavidThomas005]

if I had more time in my day I would’ve binged your whole KZbin channel. Damn this is good. Love the music choice and structure, as well as glorification without being misleading or cheesy.

[@straigtballin]

M at it,rewatching some

[@mahadwawenka1893]

As a Somali guy who lived in Somalia specially in those regions during the pirate epidemic in the horn of Africa I can truly say you have done your research very well. Your are fair also you look both ways the good and the bad . The collapse of the central goverment in 1991 has made Somalia a placed abandoned by the help of GOD and MEN .for a long time it was a place that breeds violence ,war ,terrorism ,starvation ,drought and corruption. But I can truly say the Somali pirates at the beginning was a mission of patriotism and survival. You mention only Iraq and Yemen but it was more than that alot of European and Asian nations were also drawing in large scale the untouched sea food of the Somali territory in their huge ships . Hence living little if nothing at all for those communities . This was something that needed to be done for them to live since 95% Of their food was was coming from the see in a country scourged by drought and war. And it worked .we called them heroes but then the same people who destroyed the goverment joined in the war lord and started turning what was right to defend your territory against foreign ship into a multi million dollar crime org .the killing , the ransom and kidnapping that was not those communities but thugs who only care about money "My English is not good that best as I can try .thank you #johhny this topic was personal reminds me of home as the The MORMON video was for you. Thanks for covering this

[@qudhachure9598]

Iyaaa😂😂😂

[@muddygun]

Sorry to hear of such tragic events. This world would be a better place if countries stopped stripping other countries resources.

[@axeleratemtl]

Thank you for this comment 🙏

[@TanRalf]

So sorry for what happened to your country. May all the best happen to you in the future.

[@e24news_KE]

The problem with most white people especially from the west have been spoon fed with propaganda but do not see.... for instance was fishing on Somali coastline back then, in this video Johnny Harris here forgot to mention some names and can tell is intention koz a simple google search can help a lot! He went aheadto make enemies of US and Nato look bad and went to make actual aggressors, that is NATO powers look like angels in this matter... he missed a lot! If study geopolitics well you notice there was more propaganda on this matter than you think , issue of damping toxic waste is overlooked , more collapse of Somali was as a result of US invasion but its still this info is not here! A failed somali was beneficial to US, coz they wanted a failed govt to allow them control Somali coastline... its simple...if am not wrong the same pirates later came to be called Al-Shabaab. Just young local guys trying to defend their country from imperialism....however warlords and weapon manufacturer from the west funded them to ensure there is instability in the country since this means its hard for govt to control the coastline....in the end the west benefit koz that was the motive but this info is missing this video.

[@JimmySaul888]

I have a friend who planned to sail around the world. He went from San Fran to Panama to the Caribbean to Portugal then finally the the eastern Mediterranean. He got to Turkey and realized there was no direction ahead that didn’t involve pirates. He turned around and sailed home.

[@hectormanuel8360]

Did he travel to Gibraltar?

[@rebelcrump8296]

​@@hectormanuel8360THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR

[@miliba]

Smart sailor. But if he had hired a swordsman, ranger, cook, navigator, deer medic, woman with many arms, cyborg shipbuilder and skeleton bard, he wouldve made it safely through the pirate waters

[@OneAdam12Adam]

Same problem that even Jefferson had to deal with... Islamofascists were terrorizing us then and they still are now. Why do Arab countries feel they have a right to trash African peoples? Why do some evil Italian businessmen feel they can dump their toxic waste in East Africa? Not that they are the only terrorist groups in the world. We have the Russian FSB, the CCP and the myriad corporations that don't care about us.

[@bakedzombie2606]

nice

[@Xenomorphicism]

Thank you for reporting on this subject. Have been following this since before 9-11... you covered all the main points and I learned new things because of your team's in-depth reporting. Thank you.

[@thacrypt223]

I am Somali and I approve of this video. Only thing you could have added is that the fishing vessels where from many more places than just Iran and Yemen.

[@zakarieasad]

As a Somali pirate, I can confirm this is true.

[@lemao851]

As this guy's gun, I can confirm this is true

[@christoh4723]

As this gun's bullet, I can confirm this is true

[@Red-Red-Red-Red]

As bullet's gunpowder, I can confirm this is true

[@UncleBuZ]

As this guys gitch, I can confirm this is true.

[@orly2663]

yo, where can I get in on this pirate stock market

[@epicbots8479]

I thought this was about one piece

[@bengorham1605]

Confirmed

[@ChadPANDA...]

The one piece is real ( 🎵 can we get much higher 🎵 )

[@MrFlippers2.O]

Nerd much

[@WJeezus]

THE ONE PIECEE. THE ONE PIECEE IS REAL

[@Jay-sr8ge]

Zehahahaha

[@mmartinez1241]

Thank you for being up to date on important topics & covering up to date real time events

[@Spikeythepomsky]

Love your insightful, researched, thought provoking content Keep up the awesome work!

[@NITINCHAWLA]

As a modern day officer, also working on cargo ships! I have to admit this route still scares my crew and many onboard. But this video truly represents the truth behind it all. Thank you for this.

[@ozzylink]

The Blackhawk down happened in that region and also one of the worst genocide in African history by Somalis. Somalis invaded there Ethiopia in 2 wks but with the help of Russia and Cuban soldiers were Ethiopia lucky to have a country today. We Somalis are not as bad anymore lol

[@Edwardbanks1]

It is sad what happened to Somalia and the Somali people. I hope the good people of that nation can turn things around for the better. ❤

[@mohaahmed3162]

Thank you we have overcome many of these things, today there is functioning government there is no more warlords and the remaining challenge is little compared to beginning of the century.

[@theONE-ws8lh]

Few challenges remain, most importantly getting rid of the foreign proxy in the north run by the puppet isaq tribal enclave @@mohaahmed3162

[@ainanshewarsame]

Thank you brother ❤

[@user-jb7kv3nd9o]

They cant, whole society is messed up.

[@libanionno8007]

Thank you, we need to do better and unite

[@boluwatifephilip9138]

As a nigerian, I feel bad about our situation. Corruption has really eaten into our youths, its quite sad

[@FirebombFritzz]

What is hapening

[@alahiri2002]

@@FirebombFritzzThe current wave of piracy is focused around the coast of West Africa, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria is at the heart of this location, and by far the most populated part of the coast. The vast majority of incidents in the region were caused by Nigerian pirates, with only Beninese, Togolese, and Ghanaian numbers coming anywhere near those of Nigeria. Yet, save for 18 Beninese successful pirate attacks in 2011, Nigerian pirates have caused the vast majority of attacks in the Gulf of Guinea since 2009.

[@Ioulimontium]

@@FirebombFritzz 6:42

[@iloveyoushima4953]

You should be more concerned with the damage Muslims are doing to your country.

[@miniredin527]

​@@iloveyoushima4953Shhhhh! My violent Fulani captors might here you, just look at what they did to my village

[@JRHicks1776]

Great video! On a similar topic, a video idea would be on global shipping. An estimated 90% of everything we have in our homes has been, or has components, that were once shipped on the oceans. A good book for research is “90% of Everything”. Thank you for your hard work!

[@samiirlopez3050]

I am Somali and i live in a coastal city called Mogadishu this depiction of the events that happened and the way you visualize it is madly accurate and hats off to u broski ❤🇸🇴🇸🇴🇸🇴

[@theancientsancients1769]

He can't get the Somali map right this fool

[@faridbuni3456]

I live in Malaysia and even I don’t know about the piracy going on in the Straits of Malacca. This is really a topic that really hasn’t been brought up to the community more often…

[@GravitoRaize]

It's probably because of two big reasons we don't hear much about SE Asia piracy... First, it doesn't affect the West, so there's little in the way of news or reporting about it. And Second, a lot of that piracy is on smaller or medium-sized enterprises like international fishing companies, and small local fishermen. Sure, it's tragic for a small community if their boating enterprise is pirated, but oftentimes it's only the locals and local government that knows about it and they are simply powerless to do anything about it. If Western companies were affected, or if ransoms started to become a thing in SE Asia, then I'm sure we'd start hearing more about it. Somalia was able to get away with ransoms due to their location and the types of vessels and shipmen that were going through the area. In SE Asia, ransoming probably isn't very profitable.

[@faridbuni3456]

@@GravitoRaize yeah that make sense :)

[@puraLusa]

Since the first sea trade routes there was piracy. There will always be piracy.

[@Wkwkwkland904]

Yeah me too, as an Indonesian i never heard about piracy in our teritory, we know about ilegal fishing conflict, but piracy i never know about that.

[@dibassarkar2898]

Those indonesian pirates aren't that effective, maybe because they're all 4ft tall and built like a pencil

[@vidhyanatarajan1]

I really appreciate your content delivery. The narration is really clear and sound. The background music is unique and engaging. This is the first video of yours I am watching.

[@lostworld3195]

Your Journalism is fantastic, I had to sub, been watching your videos for some time and I am sold.

[@abdifatahali4733]

THIS IS CRAZY! I’VE BEEN WATCHING JOHNY FOR A WHILE! I AM SOMALI MYSELF AND IT’S SO INTERESTING TO WATCH THIS VIDEO FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF SOMEONE WHO GREW UP IN SOMALIA. 95% OF SOMALIS HAVE NEVER EVEN MET A PIRATE THOUGH I WANNA MAKE IT CLEAR WE AREN’T PIRATES

[@pulse3554]

I swear Johnny Harris is on a mission funded by the CIA to diminish western atrocities by talking about them but severely softening them, so that people have the wrong conception rather than no conception, in order to get ahead of mainstream sentiment. I know the “story” of Somali pirates, there’s a lot this video glosses over

[@Sankuneefle]

yeah, piracy has basically been non-existent in the horn after 2011. the only reason ppl still associate piracy with us is due to the Tom Hanks film Captain Philips. I appreciate Johnny for being honest and mentioning how piracy started in our country as a way of retaliation against these disgusting countries who illegally fished in our waters and dumped toxic waste on our shores damaging the health of local communities. people much more frequently look at piracy in somalia in it's later stages where it became an actual lucrative business but they forget that this problem would have never existed if these countries didnt exploit the local population

[@hossbeki9266]

We just wanna sit and take live easily

[@teamEP789]

that's what a pirate would say! yarr

[@jacob9673]

@@Sankuneefledidn’t he say it’s not really about fishing anymore-it’s about greedy warlords

[@HeisenbergFam]

Pirates of the Caribbean look really majestic compared to pirates today

[@alejandrorp5160]

... only because what we got was a glamourised versión of the real thing

[@MrFlippers2.O]

100%

[@MrFlippers2.O]

@@alejandrorp5160idk about that

[@occam7382]

Pirates of the Caribbean looks really majestic compared to piracy in the 18th Century, let alone today.

[@GURken]

just like a chihuahua compared to a wolf

[@Goose.ZA92]

Excellent Video Johnny. This really puts a new light on the why. So many people look at this topic and see it in the news and just think they are just criminals exploiting. The background of the country and the unfortunate events that OTHERS have done to exploit Samalia and the people in the country shines a very VERY different light on the "why". My view of these "pirates" have shifted completely.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

Usual: before it was wakanda 😭 Historians who can do real research: 🤣🤣🤣🤣 At the time of African colonization European countries recorded EVERYTHING, they had an immense burocracy to manage their empires.....we are talking about countries who will record how many chickens a family have for millions of people..... For example Italy referring to their colony somalia: 1 out of a population of more than 1 million people only 20000 lives in stone houses (the rest you can imagine...... ) 2 the literacy rate was less than 0.6% 3 there was a medic every 60000/70000 people.... Note that Italian colonies were settlement colonies, they wanted to live there.... For example the Eritrean capital was full of Italians and even Libia. (but now no more) And this is not propaganda this was needed by officials for managing the colony.... Africa was ridiculously underdeveloped and Somalia even more, so much that literally the Ethiopian government said to the Italian government to abbandon all their colonial ambitions because it wasn't economically viable it was only an expense.....literally all Italian data and economists say that but if even an African country made that point.....

[@janemoore4395]

I was looking at the background map as Johnny was talking about all the shipping routes. Love the 'glowing' globe in front as it actually illuminates the wall map. Anyway, this was so interesting and look forward to more.

[@tasosk790]

And so began the great pirate era

[@amoorsharma3968]

Wealth, Fame, Power. The man who had acquired everything in this world!

[@watchdog.2690]

one piece gang letss goo

[@NeroPiroman]

Que we are

[@azultarmizi]

to the Grand Line!

[@kingace6186]

"You want my treasure? You can have it! I put everything I have in one piece. Now you just have to find it!"

[@lazypossum42]

It would be amazing if you made a video on how Sri Lanka, an economy that was growing so rapidly that it was expected to overtake Japan, suddenly stagnated and then fell.

[@zdravkodimitrov]

That should be a quick video - they over borrowed on government level credit and couldn't pay it back, and were selling a fake prosperity narrative to their people the whole time.

[@MasterBlaster3545]

That is boring. The war that saw the fall of the Tamil Tigers would be much better.

[@PiouStarcraft]

corrupt government and inaction of locals to stop corruption ?

[@user-oj5ro1so8w]

expected to overtake Japan🤣🤣

[@AC-hh2cb]

You mean Singapore?

[@hannaharendtarendt1879]

Great videos man i love all the topics! keep up the great work!

[@pierssteenekamp3751]

Mr Johnny Harris, I tip my hat to you. I am 73 years old and recently retired. I have been a musician, a song -writer, a pilot, a pastor and I have headed up an innovation centre at a university and been a high school teacher - but I have learned more from you than I have learned from a lifetime of formal education. You are the most gifted teacher I have ever witnessed and had the privilege to learn from. Keep up the good work. The people of the world have much to learn and you are the best person to teach it!

[@jkcjkcjkcjkcjkcjkcjk]

Simp

[@tebetdwellers3202]

Jeez what a resume, must've been one interesting life my man.

[@Bell_plejdo568p]

@@jkcjkcjkcjkcjkcjkcjka lot of his video are propaganda

[@arandomhandsomeman7725]

As a somali i, i want to mention the investment part aswell. Basically the pirates act like a company. So you put money in them say $10,000 or you give them weapons like rpg or guns. And then when they make money from the ship they give u a cut. Many people have become wealthy due to this.

[@Medabee8]

He mentioned that in the video actually

[@kingace6186]

Essentially, anarchic capitalism.

[@chuco915C]

Interesting

[@Findgod222]

That’s smart 😂

[@brandonhoffman4712]

Sounds exactly how it would have worked 250 years ago too. Piracy is the birthplace of democracy afterall!

[@gonderage]

Everytime I think about piracy, I remember what uncle Gaben said about piracy in the entertainment industry: it's a service issue. I still think that's true for piracy as a whole; no government supporting its citizens.

[@knpark2025]

"In our societal and technological environment, an economic niche exists. And this incorporation of pirates fills its shape as whiskey fills a barrel. Such is life. The motions we choose but the sum of forces upon us. I became a pirate as the gold in this grail chose its form. The both of us now cogs of this machine that profits on the high seas or perishes." -CGP Grey

[@garry8390]

Governments do not provide for their citizens they are protection rackets pure and simple, they extract wealth from people under threat of violence.

[@Broken_dish]

@@knpark2025 its only just the fact its lawlessness the government is to powerless these china fishing trawlers that took the fishermen jobs so they resort to then leaving the fishing boats alone and going and kidnapping cargo ships that have nothing to do with it so then johnny can make a video saying the white man destroyed Somalia and these pirates are just trying to survive and he forgets the fact that 2 wrongs dont make a right to even say these pirates are victims is delusional shows how woke this dude really is

[@Pontif11]

There was no government, it literally fell appart. Don't you think this problem was mainly exasterbated, and kinda created, by other nations taking advantage of the situation. Ttealing and poisoning their natural resources is a massive factor.

[@Handle0108]

@@Broken_dishJohnny adresses that, did you even watch the full video?

[@NEWFAITHHORIZON]

Pure content.look forward to seeing more bro

[@janetlynch7661]

Brilliant as always Johnny (and team) thanks

[@danieldams8381]

I am a big fan of your work. It's interesting how you tell your stories in a relaxing way. I watch your videos from start to finish and it seems like a 1 minute video. I currently work as a craft editor and your work is just the right inspiration in need.

[@dianasilva6996]

Thank you! And thank you, to all your team! Your journalism and editing are excellence!

[@twinavent4440]

@21:53... you say "doesn't negotiate wit hostages 😂😂😂😂😂😂 that made my day!!! Keep up the great-work sir... appreciate all that you & your staff have being doing👍🏾 everytime

[@shirwac36]

Thanks Jonny for the great documentary video, this because your honesty request from your viewers to give their insights prior to making this video and that too taking my Somali prespectives towards piracy how it initially started, Kudos 👏

[@PokhrajRoy.]

I didn’t know there was a huge concentration of piracy in South-East Asia and South Asia. I’m very curious about the Bangladeshi Pirates. I’ve heard of reusing shipbuilding equipment but this is interesting.

[@farhanmakarim4153]

abu sayyaf or islamic terrorist in south east asia responsible for the majority of it, the money are used to fund their terrorist organization

[@emilmahanen8195]

Well consider the difference in population

[@jsimsgt96]

The straight of malacca is a hot bed

[@jeksixten5751]

try to search Filipino Muslim Pirates the Abu Sayyaf best at beheading foreigners..

[@Seggs_Wth_Kiana_Kaslana]

They deserve it

[@DevilishKira]

Great stuff Johnny! I've actually enjoyed every video I've watched of yours. Much appreciation to you and your team for this! please keep up the good work and I know that a lot falls on your shoulders when it comes to being neutral in ones journey of journalism, but know that we appreciate your truth a whole lot. No matter what topic you cover that's really all what matters to me. So thank you for the wonderful content you and your team create

[@aizazkhan5101]

Great information, in depth and broad knowledge.

[@majithajamsheer7764]

Hi Jhonny. What an amazing wotk u have.your creating ability about true facts get more informative.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

Great video. I noticed that I wasn't hearing as much about piracy in the past few years compared to over a decade ago. Great to finally understand why.

[@commercialcantina7425]

South Park actually had a really good episode about Somalia pirates that was both funny and eye opening

[@abdullaheyni]

I extend my gratitude for your comprehensive video addressing the historical context of Somali piracy. Your meticulous explanation, complete with insightful maps depicting Somalia's disputed territories, truly adds depth to the narrative. Your dedication to presenting the truth about Somalia's challenges sets you apart as a journalist.

[@angelrincon7909]

Hands down one of the best channels on KZbin!!

[@hornerfarah2282]

I know a relative of mine who was a part of the pirates in Somalia and he worked for quite some years until he had enough money to leave Somalia and start new life in Minnesota US. And that is pretty much is how a lot of them end up leaving Somalia when they have enough money to start again in other countries.

[@bobsherwood4537]

That dad lore is about to be crazy

[@philtru]

I lived in Minnesota for many years. It is the state with the largest amount of somalians. Not sure why but there are a lot!

[@skp8748]

​​@@philtrusomalis* just like dear born has a lot of arabs, la has a lot of Iranians, Boston has a lot of irish ect

[@vannhantran547]

so Dad Lore ain't capin

[@Curling_Rack]

FBI & Interpol is looking for your pops

[@BryanMoreiraFCB]

You know, I don't watch every video on this channel, but when I do, and I mean, when the topic is interesting for me, its just so satisfying, the story telling, the images, the sounds, the way im hook every minute. It's amazing what you do. Im hoping you keep growing as big as you can. Blessings.

[@brandonhoffman4712]

I dont watch every video on this channel, but when i do. I prefer dos equis!

[@nobleinsaan]

I'm Somali, and when our government fell, the world saw an opportunity to take advantage of us. They polluted our water, wrecked our economy, disrupted our conflict resolution efforts, and intentionally contributed to the rise of terrorism, making Somalia's troubles even worse. In response, the Somali water guards stepped up to protect our territorial waters. Many, including myself, don't consider them pirates because they respected our wishes and stayed within our waters. I'm deeply sorry for any harm that innocent individuals suffered, regardless of how they ended up in such dire situations. Now, I'm relieved to see our country improving. Everyone, no matter where they're from, wants peace, fairness, and love. These things can help heal the wounds of the past and create a better future where everyone, no matter their background, can live together in peace.

[@southfieldtrill9690]

No the Warlords and their subordinates failed Somalia when the government collapsed.

[@JackChit-pv3dj]

@@southfieldtrill9690the west wanted a failed state and divided somalia and tried to construct puppet governments many times and failed. They want a stable government but a weak one which in itself kind of an oxymoron.

[@growthdevelopment7412]

I love your videos bro keep them coming💪🏾🔥💯

[@josephhall9457]

Your content is incredible. I’m just now getting introduced to your work. Very thorough, engaging, and informative. Subscribed

[@arun279]

The ethical argument is hard to make because these pirates aren’t a political or ideological monolith. While there still might be subsistence pirates, there’s no one enforcing any piracy law in the region, so anyone with a boat and some weapons can do what they want. And when even one incident pierces the ethical boundary, it immediately applies to everyone in the eyes of the world.

[@ev.c6]

That is an easy argument to make when live in a function country, where life gives you choices. I wanted to see your "moral dillema" had you been born in a country where poverty is rampant, and you know nothing else than misery. Piracy just grew into something that no one could control, because there was no one to control. Of course this would become a business, or an organised crime. Humans are pretty good at that, look at the slave trade in previous centuries, or drug cartels in more recent times.

[@qj0n]

Self-organized militia running offensive actions never end well, that's why we should condemn them from very beginning​​⁠

[@kingace6186]

I see pirate groups the same way I see governments around the world. Some are corrupt, exploitative, and belligerent; others are disciplined, accountable, and reasonable. Either way, none are a monolith. The only major difference between the two is the political spectrum of order to anarchy.

[@qj0n]

@@kingace6186 can you give an example of pirates who would keep the values for a longer period of time not being corrupted or immoral? From what I know, to have a stable, law-abiding country, it should be supervised by civil authorities and ideally have several safety mechanisms. If it's run by an army, it won't go well

[@Ali.Sabrie]

​@@kingace6186yes

[@mphomaluleke2875]

wow in love with you work i cant live my room and i like that you are not baise unlike most of the documentarys thank u keep up the good work sir

[@peterbeer8657]

Thanks for this history lesson, learned some important things here!

[@lostleblanc]

Love what you’re doing Johnny!

[@theancientsancients1769]

He can't get the map of Somalia right even! Stereotype uneducated American image he gives

[@joyboyskyhigh]

Real robbers, pirates, gays, lesbians, creeps, backstabbers, invaders etc..are europiens

[@tonic316]

@@theancientsancients1769okay yoda. KEKLOL

[@TheCertifiedLegend]

What are you doing here 😮

[@mercurius8725]

Johnny just dived a country into, his use of the map at 1:55 says he supports the recognition of Somaliland State as a country. Plus footages are all great but old, piracy stopped in 2015, no need to give the world a negative view of Somalia when the world gave them negative life

[@zuluhour]

GWOT Veteran and prior PMC goon here. For 25 minutes you had me on the edge of my seat waiting for you to mention the "armed security guards" that these companies were paying VERY good money to 'stand guard' on their ships. These guys were much more than armed security guards, a lot of them were/are former military, swat and or special forces. I was in Baghdad at the time contracting but had some friends switch to maritime protection work as it was less IDF and generally "safer" for the same if not more money ($400-$1200 a day). Regardless what reasons pushed these fishermen into a life of crime, it's rather interesting how this problem essentially stopped once the boats started shooting back and probably provides some valuable lessons to be applied elsewhere about the importance of psychological deterrents - aka it's easy to steal from a victim you know won't be armed and thus most likely won't defend themselves - but the introduction of responsible merchant ships using armed guards suddenly and immediately caused a massive reduction in pirating incidents in that area. That is called 'the juice not being worth the squeeze'. I'd love to see your unbiased reporting style do a deep dive on how this could correlate to problems in the USA - as 26:48 sounds like you might have been referencing the United States, albeit symbolically. Reported by ABC and confirmed by the DoS, "There have been no successful pirate attacks on ships protected by armed guards." kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3vGeGOZhdl9hZo Really been enjoying your channel, as you cover a lot of stuff from my generation's (I think we're around the same age) time, so it's very relevant. Kinda crazy to look back on it: I enlisted not long after 9/11 for "patriotism/honor". Honorably separated to go do PMC work for "greed/money". But then found my wife and started a family out of "love/hope". I guess we each have our own character arcs and stories to tell, but for the sake of the world and our youth, I hope we can all get our collective shit together. Unfortunately, me telling you to keep up the great work means reporting on not so pleasant things but take solace in the fact that you connect dots in a way that lets the average viewer reflect more on the world around them, helping promote more free thinking and less sheep-ing. There is something to be said about living blissfully unaware, but life is about survival; and we survive by staying educated, not influenced. So, in that regard, please keep up the great work. Sorry for the rant. I'm still trying to back process all the changes to world since 1999.

[@eridan3.079]

thanks for these very interesting informations !

[@mfundoshabalala9231]

To be honest I don’t know where I’ve been looking for good informative videos🎉 because I can’t stop watching these videos

[@auloap]

PIrate videos arr hard to come by these days matey

[@xDontStarve]

Yies I knou raihgt

[@Noodlekdoodle]

You gotta lose an arm and a leg to find this stuff

[@brandonhoffman4712]

Arrrrrrgh

[@manenguzsan]

Hi Iz & Johnny! A big (long time) fan of you two over here. It's been a long time that I've thought of writing this and today I found the courage. I'm finishing my master's in refugee protection and forced migration at the University of London and something that I have found to be very interesting in the field of forced migration is how refugees arriving in the global north get way more attention in the media/policy spheres/even research! HOWEVER, most of the refugees worldwide are hosted in the global south (disclaimer: this may change due to the refugees coming from Ukraine to Europe, but still). AND. **Much more importantly.** Did you know that the largest amount of forced migrants never get to cross an international border? Yes, internally displaced persons (IDPs) are the largest population of forcibly displaced people on earth. I'm writing my master's thesis on IDPs affected by criminal violence, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The IDP definition under the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement allows for so much (compared to the restricted statutory definition for refugees under the 1951 Convention). It would be amazing if you could explore this idea with your team. There is a growing set of research on the immobility nature of displacement as well; meaning that many people affected by violence, conflict, climate change, natural disasters often times are immobile due to many factors. It is a shame that only the few refugees who are able to pay thousands of dollars and get to the coasts of Italy get to be in the news. PLEASE, this is in no regard to be taken as an argument against asylum/refuge as it is a well-established universal human right (Article 14 of the UDHR/1951 Convention/etc.). One of my professors (Dr. Bríd Ní Ghráinne) actually wrote on this extensively and addressing Internal Displacement shouldn't jeopardize asylum. Thanks for reading!

[@sergeantskrtskrt9594]

Hey, this is really interesting. Is there a possibility that I could have a sneak peek into your masters thesis once its complete, if it's okay with you? I know I'm not Johnny or Iz but this seems like something I would really like to learn about as an immigrant myself who lives in the global north. It's rare to find people who research such subjects, I'm aspiring to pursue my first undergraduate degree in history within a year and things like this always prick my interest to see how people who are technically professionals in a certain subject view things. Especially because of the amount of sources they go through.

[@yogeshshrestha5028]

Harris dai is always kadaa🔥 Thanks for providing such information ❤.

[@mafia360]

Like always, another amazing video 👏

[@DragonKingGaav]

Johnny should have released this video yesterday for International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Missed opportunity.

[@gracet7533]

This is one of the first of your videos I've watched in a while, so loving the deeper dives into this sort of topic. Would love to hear about the Nigerian pirates but I'm guessing that's maybe too complicated for this channel to cover accurately

[@alexmartin2651]

Love your videos, so informative

[@Sentiat]

Every time johhny harris uploads I gotta set the vidoe aside and watch it when I have some good food, not letting the video go to waste yk.

[@garrywallah4966]

cheezels and pringles my go to Johnny Harris food

[@eliyarrows2456]

Me seeing this right after eating breakfast: “well I guess it’s time for brunch”

[@ExarchGaming]

probably ought to bring up a second window and fact-check him too... this one he leaves out a lot of critical info in trying to make a moral justification for the pirates.

[@Sentiat]

@ExarchGaming He never tried to make them appear good. In the 1990s, they were considered decent, but eventually they turned bad. It's a straightforward situation. Initially, they would charge taxes and issue licenses to ships as a means of generating revenue, which was ethical and acceptable. However, over time, they transformed into criminal organizations

[@gibarel]

I remember hearing a case where the pirates tried to board a spanish warship that accompanying another vessel, the cargo ship was fueling on the port and the warship was a few kilometers away waiting, it didn't went well for the pirates.

[@brandonhoffman4712]

This is how you play it! Maybe a chopper or two on board to close the gap quick and dispatch those pirates from their flat earth!

[@gibarel]

@@brandonhoffman4712 that's basically how it went, they tried to board and there where trained soldiers with guns, they tried to run and where chased by 2 choppers, they managed to kill one of them and arrested the others.

[@Walmart1]

Yeah but when everything added up, the Somali Pirates won at the end. The Spanish may have protected themselves but tons of other countries fell victim.

[@brandonhoffman4712]

@@gibarel i just teared up a little... its so perfect!

[@brandonhoffman4712]

@@Walmart1 thats weird. The video showed a drastic decline in Somali piracy. To the point it isnt really an issue today. Which to me doesnt say pirates win.

[@Ahmiseysoh75]

I really like how Johnny Harris shows so much humanity in his documentaries and shows both sides of the story. Well done! I think you are a good person Johnny Harris.

[@busterbah2498]

this was such an amazing detailed video thank you

[@ramzia]

When somebody robs you on the street, they're a robber, not a thief. There's a violence component to robbery, at sea or otherwise, that should not be trivialized. People are often deeply traumatized by the experience. Similarly, the way the early attempts at piracy are described as "kind of harmless" are pretty misguided. Civilian sailors getting attacked by a bunch of violent armed bandits, who often proceed to beat them up, imprison them for days, often intimidating them with threats of torture and execution at gunpoint is not "kind of harmless".

[@leglez3977]

it is kinda of harmless... to the 99% of people who arent in the oceans

[@CptVein]

So what? These ''pirates'' should just do nothing and die while they country and lives are being taken away?

[@Ace-990]

Given the context, scope of global and later piracy it kind of was

[@JK-ur9qv]

If you come away from the early retribution for illegal fishing and waste disposal with emotional trauma, I would absolutely describe that as pretty harmless.

[@ambravo190]

It is not harmless, it was violent, but it is less organized and less violent than what happened later. I do agree with you that the frase was nos very well employed.

[@sharks2571]

Really interested to learn about this. Im in grad school for marine science, and my lab group works on the west indian ocean. However our work stops at Kenya's northern boarder as Somalian waters are too dangerous for us to do our science

[@okokk335]

As someone who took journalism in college after seeing your vox videos and as an Indian and a avid fan of your works I would love if you make a video upon the current situation of manipur and its origin

[@user-ji2yx2uo4p]

Your hard work truly pays off! 💼

[@abdifatahmohamettisse5028]

As Somali myself thank you, Johnny Harris for telling the real reasons and also who got richer

[@mohamedsokari5520]

Absolutely on point. Sky scrappers was one of the signs naming ‘burcad badeed” fund

[@Bell_plejdo568p]

@@mohamedsokari5520wdym

[@Bell_plejdo568p]

Thease has a lot of propgrnda and misinformation, like the cia put the warlords back into power, and there the ones who got rid of the Somali government in 2005-2009. That giv stopped piracy don’t belive everything u see on the internet

[@WhoLeeAnnita]

Hello Johnny and team! Thanks for another video. Here in Colombia there's a lot of history about pirates, especially Morgan who had a special presence. Nowadays pirates are equally cruel. Seems like crime is something authorities don't want to deal with. Sad 😔

[@dkdareaper2953]

What a coincidence the same warlord behind the Somali piracy was named morgan too 😂

[@skydvdan]

I love videos like this. Please keep them coming. I can’t wait for part two of the Mormon video.

[@Calcifurr]

Johnny, your ending statements gave me goosebumps. In life, we can point our fingers at what’s wrong and right, but we often forget to question and humanize the why behind these criminals.

[@kylerodland5078]

Great work! I’d love to see this kind of reporting on the US auto / oil industry’s history of influence of transportation infrastructure, how it still influences and lobbies for car domination.

[@grantmitera2998]

Id love to see a Johnny Harris video about the NFL. I don’t even watch football, but the fanaticism, the money, the scale is just insane. As an outsider, it’s hard to understand.

[@jacobq.2204]

Fanaticism? Have you ever watched Soccer? Hockey? Rugby? These have much more rabid fans than NFL fans.

[@StreetPreacherr]

And the symbiotic relationship with GAMBLING! Didn't the NFL actually just sell official branding rights to some online Sport Betting service?

[@Broken_dish]

as a usa citizen even i dont understand the love of nfl or just sports in general same for soccer abroad its so weird and cringe how into it people get

[@jaxsonhurd1442]

@@Broken_dishwow ur so unique for not liking things

[@jaxsonhurd1442]

Fanaticism really ? you sound like an outsider

[@edwardkaugare4490]

Content ceator, this is good staff Thumps up

[@walcoth3925]

Very Very Very Brilliant and Good Okay..Let nothing distract you from what you are doing 🙏🙏🏽🙏🏿🙏🏼👍🏿

[@moaazel-sadek9416]

Out of all the video formats that you've been trying lately, this is still my absolute favorite ❤ As a beginner KZbinr myself, your videos are great inspiration for me and my work. Keep doing these beautiful videos.

[@AutomaticHandguns]

“The only lives that truly matter are those who respect the lives of others”.

[@learn2share461]

Very nice one again! I would love to see you talk about the charity organisations industry. Peace!

[@yusufshire]

We are not the captain anymore. Piracy ended but illegal fishing and waste dumping continues. When you are in Somalia, you feel like you live in a landlocked country despite the fact that we have the longest coast on mainland Africa and one of the busiest shipping routes in the world. Cab wataase hade cab. Insha Allh we will come out of this stronger. Johnny, thank you for your excellent work. Keep it up.

[@lisaa2104]

Thanks for letting us know. An entire video on waste trade it would be a good one. Very often European people don’t know about it, except those that follow good journalism. Europeans actually care about the environment including that in Africa, esp young people - we need to shed more light on this topic. Best wishes

[@tonjanohmer2242]

I would be interested in a "best practices" series from around the world. How other countries have developed processes and/or perhaps technologies to address issues such as waste (plastics, nuclear), education, health, living off grid, politics, health "insurance"🙄 and economy. I believe democracy is a must like we have in the US however, I believe greed will ruin it eventually. I would love to see a series on how other societies and cultures have developed "best practices" that have successfully addressed issues that translate universally. Two quick examples are how the Japanese look at and apply education to their children and how the Amish have seriously low health issues in their populations probably because they are more physically active and grow, harvest, and eat only foods they have raised. I would love to chat more if this is an idea you feel has some merit.

[@feandil666]

Democracy is not a must, see China. It's arguable whether it's actually even a better system for stability.

[@drrocketman7794]

Capitalism is a problem, namely, laissez-faire capitalism. There need to be regulations everywhere to rein in greed.

[@jonmraptor3440]

bruh@@feandil666

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

@@feandil666 The same China where they are on a brink of a collapse? The same China that is now expecting far lower GDP growth than Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong when they were are the same GDP per capita? The same China where foreign investment is reducing rapidly due to the govt? The same China that is a threat to basically all it's a neighbors? The same china with conc amps in Xinjiang? Yeah, what a great system.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

@@drrocketman7794 Capitalism isn't an issue... but laissez-faire capitalism is.

[@isaacmartinez6904]

When I think of modern pirates, I think of Captain Philips and the Somali Pirate who says, “I’m the captain now.”

[@Bell_plejdo568p]

Yes that’s the goal the movie is a propaganda flim

[@BentleyBohemian_96]

​@@Bell_plejdo568pstill a good movie though. And how is it propoganda?

[@mxb2432]

​@@Bell_plejdo568pyou a pirate mate? 😂

[@kingace6186]

@@Bell_plejdo568p It's propaganda published by the World Government. But they're not gonna stop me from finding the One Piece!

[@brandonhoffman4712]

When i think of modern pirates i feel those with keyboards can do more damage than those with guns

[@AbdulRaheem-nx5nc]

Best channel that's when we spend time it's worth it😊

[@MrIbadanBoy]

As a Nigerian i can totally relate to all Johnny said from 25:18 to the end of this video.. a lot of politics going on in the pirate economy of Nigeria. I hope we can work to get things right and give people better opportunities of career paths and not have to resolve to chaos in guise of activism..

[@RP-pu3ur]

nigeria is an insignificant place.

[@SuperKillerdog]

Says who??? Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa, it is also the strongest in terms of power. Trust me we matter to any serious world leader. Nothing can happen without our involvement in the second largest continent on earth.

[@RP-pu3ur]

@@SuperKillerdog haha nothing can happen without your involvement? you are delusional, you were just colonized until less than 100 years ago. South Africa is even in the G20 but you guys are not... so funny.

[@gd.5528]

@@RP-pu3urur South African, makes sense. Get a life.

[@RP-pu3ur]

@@gd.5528 Actually I am American, and we are superior to all of you.

[@Brownyman]

You should do a video on the stateless city in Cherån, Mexico. In 2011 after a huge spout of criminal logging in their forests they kicked out all of the politicians, all the police, and the cartels then set up a voluntarily funded and heavily armed community defense force. To this day it remains a thriving and lovely example of what some would call a "free society".

[@sureshseurattan8057]

Great video Johnny! Can you do one on the collapse of Venezuela? I've never quite understood what happened to them. Thanks

[@roberto-rodriguez]

Awesome video. Thanks

[@sarvanshumishra7374]

Really love your explanation Man.... Hope you finish your future projects as soon as possible.

[@William_Stephens]

Man context is everything. You hear about something for so long and then you get the context behind the situation and it changes everything

[@AA_dagr8t]

Western media is great about leaving out important context lol

[@MrZoomah]

Yeah. I remember as a kid my dad's friend, a crayfishman in Geraldton, Western Australia, loading guns onto his boat. He would joke with my dad saying, "Just in case we land a shark." Many of these guns were illegal in Australia. Later on he talked about how in the off season groups of the crayfishmen, and other,s would sail across to Africa and fish the waters. If anyone came near them, they'd shoot them. Never got prosecuted despite bragging about it. He's a multi millionaire.

[@sees9267]

@@MrZoomahinteresting. I think a key part of this video that is missing is the stories and background of those who got rich fishing in Somali waters and the mafias dumping waste. I am sure there were many who did around the world and adding this to the video more in depth could have provided a more balanced and fairer view. There was also an Italian female journalist who was killed for exposing the Italian mafia. This shows that they must have really been making a lot of money in their illegal dumping.

[@Big_Cheese368]

Amazing video bro

[@thewineexperience891]

Brilliant video!

[@markmcdonald6039]

Johnny a interesting topic you could cover is industrial style agricultural monoculture and how is it decimated many different ecosystems world wide, i saw it first hand in Malaysia with palm oil plantations. Also genetically modified organisms and products co-created by big pharma, chemical giants, and agribusiness.