When pirates off the coast of Somalia captured a ship carrying grenade launchers and 33 Russian tanks, they got something they likely didn’t bargain for: worldwide attention.
The international community quickly saw the peril of such armory falling into the wrong hands and took steps to challenge the lawless seafarers who operate in the Gulf of Aden.
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled this week to take up a measure that would urge its member nations to deploy naval vessels and military to the waters off Somalia to combat crime at sea.
The united front is a necessary step, but it’s clear that more must be done to address the root cause of the piracy problem, which threatens an important shipping route.
The piracy is a symptom of the anarchy that has enveloped Somalia despite efforts by the international community to help Somalia install a functioning central government.
In fact, over the last two decades, Somalia has had 14 transitional governments and has received $8 billion in foreign aid. Yet, the country remains divided by clans, gripped by chaos and suffers from severe food shortages. Human-rights activists estimate 9,000 civilians have been killed in fighting over the last year.
A U.N. envoy to Somalia has been overseeing peace talks between the most recently installed transitional government and the Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia, an Islamist group that has led the insurgency in Somalia.
Those efforts must be redoubled so that an acceptable power-sharing agreement can be negotiated. It has become ever more apparent since the 9/11 attacks that there is an international interest in seeing stability in Somalia.
Analysts have long believed the chaotic conditions and loosely controlled borders make the country a favorable home base for terrorists.
The road ahead in Somalia is difficult. The U.N. must continue supporting talks between all parties involved in the conflict so that an acceptable government can be agreed upon. Whatever agreement emerges from such discussions cannot be perceived as being imposed by outside forces.
A government with popular support could rein in the pirates, many of whom are displaced fishermen, and would go a long way toward normalizing life in Somalia.
And it’s clear that a stable Somalia, which can take care of its own renegades, is in the world’s best interest.
