What to do about Somalia?

In observing the pirate attack on the US-flagged cargo ship, Maersk Alabama, I can't help but recognize how inadequate our institutions are for dealing with international crimes. Seeing as how this is going to be a very international 21st century, the longer we delay on this matter, the longer we suffer. Common solutions alternate between reverting to an 18th-century mindset or engaging in a strategically infeasible 3rd concurrent nation-building effort in Somalia. I don't believe that we can hang our way out of the prevailing economic concerns driving Somalis toward piracy, nor do we have the manpower or resources, even with the help of our allies, to create a stable Somalia. In the long-term, the latter is the only real solution, but in the mean time, we can do better.

Currently, the Obama administration has utilized the Kenyan court system as a stop-gap measure for addressing piracy. Given that most crimes happen in international waters, the only difference between having the Kenyan courts handle captured pirates and having the US courts do it is that Kenya is in Africa. This helps avoid charges of US imperialism, but really is only a cosmetic difference.

And piracy is far from the only international crime that needs an international framework to be addressed. Human trafficking, the international illicit narcotics trade, terrorism and fanaticism, all need to be addressed by a global quorum. These are common threats that require common, established, solutions.

The "west" by itself no longer constitutes such a quorum. Any such creation would have to have the support of the G-20 nations. Parochial interests regarding sovereignty would have to give way to a realization that these illicit actors pose a grave threat to domestic economic and social well-being, as well as national security. The Hague was a nice try, but the concept has to move beyond war crimes or even a single, consolidated location. I am talking about a global court system that has prosecutorial powers, as well as a system for finding suitable imprisonment facilities.

Such a system would greatly benefit the US, allowing us to demystify terrorists and have them tried publicly, where their sins and unglamorous lifestyle would be on full display. Narcotics traffickers could be tried outside their home country where court systems may be too corrupt to be effective, human traffickers as well would be unable to find refuge in their home country.

We have established a set of rules, regulations, courts, and best practices in the realm of warfare. The Gevena Conventions, the Hague, all are representative of a larger rule set that governs inter-state warfare. We need a similar system to address international crimes. Or they will continue to plague us.

UPDATE: Does Fred Kaplan read the blog? Same idea published in Slate.