Strategy Page on Somali Piracy

James Dunnigan over at Strategy Page has a thoughtful and informative, if somewhat depressing, post on the anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden. Read the whole thing, well worth your time, but I’ll leave you with this excerpt:

For the last century, however, order was imposed, first by colonial governments, and then by post-colonial dictators. But Somali dictators have been unable to maintain their rule over the entire region known as “Somalia.” A government of sorts was always found in some of the coastal towns, which enabled trade with the outside world. But this has been threatened by the recent growth of piracy. Some warlords are taking over coastal villages and running piracy operations from them. Local fishermen eagerly join these gangs, seeing the possibility of a huge payday. This is all possible because of the current anarchy.In the past, piracy was suppressed by foreign navies destroying the towns of villages the pirates used as bases. This is no longer politically acceptable, and no one is yet willing to send troops ashore to fight the warlords who created and maintain the pirate operations. The nations with the military forces able to go into Somalia (like the U.S., Britain and France) are well aware of the region’s history, and the willingness of the Somalis to just keep fighting.

Another nation is sending their own warship to the region to combat piracy: Russia. Strategy Page’s take:

Everyone is curious to see how the Russians will deal with the pirates. The Russians often go Old School in cases like this.