UN Passes New Resolution For Somali Piracy

News report here.

Acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter authorizing the use of force, the 15-member body called for the “seizure and disposition of boats, vessels, arms and other related equipment” used or suspected of being used for piracy, which has recently reached a peak off the coast of the Horn of Africa country with the hijacking of a Ukrainian arms ship and a Saudi oil tanker.

The Council said it continued “to be gravely concerned by the threat that piracy and armed robbery at sea against vessels pose to the prompt, safe and effective delivery of humanitarian aid to Somalia, to international navigation and the safety of commercial maritime routes, and to other vulnerable ships, including fishing activities in conformity with international law.”

It welcomed steps by Canada, Denmark, France, India, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and regional and international organizations to counter piracy, specifically citing North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) escorts for WFP vessels and the European Union decision to launch a 12-month naval operation.

Taking note of the crisis situation in Somalia, which has been riven by factional fighting and has not had a functioning central government since 1991, and the lack of capacity of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to interdict pirates as well as TFG requests for international aid, the resolution authorizes cooperating States and organizations to enter Somali territorial waters to repress piracy.

It also calls on countries, in cooperation with the shipping industry, the insurance industry and the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO), to issue ships entitled to fly their flag appropriate advice on avoidance, evasion, and defensive techniques to take if under attack or threat of attack when sailing in waters off the Somali coast.

The resolution also asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report within three months on ways to ensure long-term security off the coast of Somalia, including UN World Food Programme (WFP) deliveries, and options for coordination and what the leadership role for the UN might be for rallying Member States and regional organizations.

What does it all mean?

It means God loves irony. Hillary Clinton was just named Sec. of State, and the time line of three months means that when she enters office she will have until March 2nd to advise Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regarding a framework under the UN that is acceptable to US strategic interests to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia.

I think there is some irony that Hillary's first big task as Sec of State is to form the rule set for what will almost certainly be the next US military action, probably in association with the United Nations, and it involves a country that is one of the skeletons in the Clinton closet. I see some symmetry here, because she gets to fix an outstanding issue that still lingers in US policy that she is more than qualified to understand better than most. Her 8 years in the Senate Armed Services Committee should also come in handy here.

The strategic approach to piracy requires patience, but with AP Møller Maersk, CMA-CGM, MSC, Pacific Carriers, TMT, Seaarland Group, and Motia Compagnia di Navigazione now all routing ships around the Cape of Good Hope instead of the Suez, both the shipping market and global politics are all still moving in the direction that best serves US strategic interests for cooperation and partnership, and it all leads to legal framework needed to deal with the problem both at sea, and in Somalia. I have a feeling, that unless the EU is wildly successful next week when they begin their EU piracy mission, the world will be quite receptive to ideas, suggestions, and guidelines recommended by Secretary Clinton, after all, the whole world wants the US Navy to help, and may actually require it, only further helping her position to manage the rule set.

The more and more the media continues to highlight piracy as the problem, the better and better the maritime strategy at work in regards to Somali piracy helps US strategic interests in my opinion. While many look at piracy as the problem, I am very comfortable stating that piracy has become the solution for a stretched US military in the post Bush world, and if your willing to look a little further into the future, the solution for many problems hampering Somalia as well.

After all, we still haven't even heard from China yet. There are still many chapters in this novel to be written.


Update: Full text of resolution here. You know, this has some interesting language, for example, articles 14 and 15 look like the foundation of a legal framework. This resolution clearly won't solve the problem, since it is limited to sea, but it might allow international forces to shoot back by reducing the concerns regarding taking prisoners.