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Abstract The first globalization of Iberian and Portuguese Empires saw the emergence of piracy. Now It comes back. This resurgence is due to the existence of uncontrolled areas, to the explosion of maritime traffic, and to the proliferation of cheap weapons. Piracy is protean, it aims to change the local balance of power in the Gulf of Guinea, it is an entrepreneurial adventure in Somalia. This phenomenon reflects an adjustment of peoples to globalization and a profound transformation of the role of the state. Indeed, if the fight against piracy was traditionally assigned to navy, it is gradually being tackled by new ways, with the development of the outsourcing of functions of sovereignty, the privatisation of defence, and even the return of privateers.