Jatin Dua is a 2010 International Dissertation Research Fellowship recipient and a graduate student at Duke University. In this Research Snapshot, he examines the high profile incidents of piracy off the coast of East Africa, and his research resituates piracy within histories of the Indian Ocean and longstanding attempts to redefine sovereignty and legality within this oceanic space. The Research Snapshots series is an initiative aimed at highlighting important and innovative research by SSRC fellows who are currently conducting or who have recently returned from doing international research.