Cgpcs Working Group News

The art of drawing lines on maps is fraught with contention. Sir Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot are likely unfamiliar to many, but their names and actions live on. Their role in carving up the Ottoman Empire toward the end of the of World War I created artificial borders in the Middle East—determined arbitrarily with a ruler and with no regard to ethnic or sectarian characteristics—highlights the unintended cartographic consequences that can arise when applying rigid models of expression to inherently dynamic areas.Designated areas of maritime risk…

On Feb. 24, The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, opened the first meeting of a Working Group charged with considering modalities for operational coordination and information-sharing, the possible establishment of a regional coordination centre and regional capability development, in the context of on-going efforts by navies to protect international shipping from acts of piracy and armed robbery in the waters off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden. Set up by the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) - itself established in January 2009 following…