So the piracy problem off the coast of Somalia hit the news big several weeks ago (before Thanksgiving). I've been meaning to write this but haven't had time. I've read some crazy theories about what to do (cue Kristol who would have us invade a third country (Somalia) with the intent of eliminating bad people (Islamist Rebels and Pirates).
I'm no scholar of Naval strategy, but it seems to me that the Convoy strategy has worked before in defeating Pirates. The British did used it effectively in the Colonial South Pacific, the Americans did it during World War I and World War II against the Germans and the Japanese (WWII only).
With the U.S., British, Russian, Ukranian and Canadian Navies all patrolling those waters looking for Pirates it would seem convenient to simply escort the ships through the endangered waters. We can coordinate through the UN to handle scheduling. No one invades anyone. I'm sure that shipping insurance would even pay to underwrite some of the service in order to support money to help fund development in Somalia so that Piracy isn't your only economic choice.
Additionally we can do some trust building with the Russians, something we could use a whole lot of after the great Georgian debacle.
Just a thought.
