Observing the Strategic Success of US Policy Towards Somali Piracy

Expanded cooperative relationships with other nations will contribute to the security and stability of the maritime domain for the benefit of all. Although our forces can surge when necessary to respond to crises, trust and cooperation cannot be surged. They must be built over time so that the strategic interests of the participants are continuously considered while mutual understanding and respect are promoted.

A key to fostering such relationships is development of sufficient cultural, historical, and linguistic expertise among our Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen to nurture effective interaction with diverse international partners. Building and reinvigorating these relationships through Theater Security Cooperation requires an increased focus on capacity-building, humanitarian assistance, regional frameworks for improving maritime governance, and cooperation in enforcing the rule of law in the maritime domain.

Additionally, the Sea Services must become adept at forging international partnerships in coordination with the other U.S. services and government departments. To this end, the Global Maritime Partnerships initiative seeks a cooperative approach to maritime security, promoting the rule of law by countering piracy, terrorism, weapons proliferation, drug trafficking, and other illicit activities.

A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower (PDF), October 2007

This has been an incredible week for the United States strategic goals for fighting piracy, indeed this might have been the best week the United States has had in its strategic goals of curbing piracy this year. I got about 50 emails from a number of folks highlighting various news articles regarding the actions off Somalia, and I thank everyone who sent an email, but if you an American observing events unfolding and thinking these events represent a bad thing, I hate to be the one to tell you but you are completely missing the point when it comes to the strategic goals of the United States. Every American should be fist pumping the good news, and should avoid being misled by the media spin.

It started with what the media rightly notes is a huge development, the hijacking of a 300,000 ton super tanker SOUTH of Somalia in the waters 450nm off Kenya. This is clearly a wakeup call for the international community, and also clearly a godsend for the United States strategic policy towards Somali piracy. With the hijacking of several other ships, not to mention other activities, there is now no question that US policy for Somalia is working.

What do you mean you don't understand? If you read this blog for any reason at all, hopefully it is so you can see the big picture and that when big events occur, you can properly place context to the event in strategic terms towards our national goals. The US policy for Somali piracy is well articulated in the maritime strategy, and is working exactly as defined. The US Navy, and the DoD at large, does not define policy, the Navy's job is to enforce national policy.

The nations policy for dealing with piracy is shaped around the maritime strategy that says cooperative relationships "must be built over time so that the strategic interests of the participants are continuously considered while mutual understanding and respect are promoted" while "forging international partnerships" that "seeks a cooperative approach to maritime security, promoting the rule of law." That is our nations maritime strategy, and it is being executed exactly as outlined.

The policy is clearly working. Of all the events taking place, make sure you keep track of the important events, like this one.

Meanwhile, countries bordering the Red Sea are holding an emergency meeting in Cairo to discuss strategies for fighting the pirates. Egypt is concerned the attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean will stop shipping companies from using the Suez Canal, one of the country's main profit centers.

And this one.

Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula said President Mwai Kibaki has instructed him to convene the meeting as soon as possible.

"The president has directed me to organize an international conference where he will take the leading role on the issue of piracy along the Indian Ocean waters."

It is important to note a few things. Not a single US flagged ship has even been approached by pirates (one might say they are intentionally avoided), and not a single US mariner has been taken hostage. After a year of what is often described as sophisticated attacks, not a single action has been taken against the US due to the threat of US response. The United States still lacks any reason to get involved against Somali piracy, and has responded appropriately by doing nothing. The rest of the world has been getting hammered by pirates, and because the United States did not solve the problem for the rest of the world, they are being forced to take action for themselves. The Russians are sending another ship, the South Koreans are sending a ship, and what can only be described as the most important step yet, Saudi Arabia is joining the NATO effort.

When India, who has nothing else but a less restrictive RoE, arrives on the scene and kicks ass in a period of only one week with one ship, then clearly the problem can be managed better than what we have seen in the past. The Indians have to be getting information from someone, and whether that someone providing intelligence is in Europe or the United States, if India is getting help in the form of information it is almost certainly due to the passive US policy, because it is the same passive position of the US that has the Europeans committing to the problem.

Don't be misled by the media headlines, the US policy has been to do nothing and allow the development of an international response. We are witnessing the slow and sometimes painful strategic gains of this policy, and it all good for the United States. Let it develop and feel good about it, because for once we are witness to our nations maritime strategy producing our intended national goals. It is obviously very difficult to stomach in the rapid information flow of the information age, but the desired result is not the United States to manage this problem unilaterally, rather we want to solve this very difficult problem in a multinational way, and we find ourselves on the verge of our desired national objective to dealing with this problem.

The strategic ways (passive response) has put us in position to fight piracy with a desired strategic means (multinational naval forces) towards a strategic end (defeating Somali piracy). It has been ugly, required a ton of patience, and has often been a frustrating method towards achievement, but it hasn't cost the US anything at all to achieve our strategic goals. Welcome to the 21st century, it is often difficult and confusing in the noise of information to realize you are winning, but the US is clearly making huge leaps in our strategic goals towards defeating piracy. The next phase, which will include a number of political and legal actions that adjust engagement rules towards meeting the conditions of the problem. will only result from more of the international meetings. The political pressure towards adopting these rules continues to mount, and they are driven primarily from the market (see here and here). For the US Navy, and the American citizenry in general, patience is all that is required for success... as outlined in maritime strategy.