<DIV><DIV><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>In 2009, the United States was hit broadside by Somali pirates who attempted to capture the U.S. flag ship <I>Maersk Alabama</I>. Suddenly, the pirates were no longer a distant menace. They had thrust themselves onto the American stage.</P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>            Are the Somali pirates a legion of desperate fisherman attacking cargo ships and ocean cruisers to reclaim their waters? Or is piracy connected to crime networks and the madness that grips Somalia? What threats do pirates pose to international security?</P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>            To answer these questions, Peter Eichstaedt crisscrosses East Africa, meeting with pirates both in and out of prisons, talking with them about their lives, tactics, and motives. Ultimately, he comes face-to-face with a former fighter with Somalia's brutal Islamic al-Shabaab militia. He discovers that piracy is a symptom of a much deeper problem: Somalia itself.</p><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>            <I>Pirate</I><I> State</I> explores the links between the pirates, global financiers, and extremists who control southern Somalia and whose influence extends across the Gulf of Aden into Yemen and connects to extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Somali pirates are desperate and dangerous men who will do just about anything for money, and <I>Pirate State </I>argues that turning a blind eye to piracy and the problems of Somalia is inviting a disaster of horrific proportions.</P></DIV></DIV>