No silver bullet for Somalia problems
SEA CAPTAIN Richard Phillips' heroic sacrifice to surrender himself to Somali pirates to save his crew, as well as the sharp-shooting Navy Seals who took out his captors, is the stuff of Hollywood dramas. Unfortunately, the circumstances that precipitated this crisis reflect the real-world problems the United States has on the foreign front. We should not be deluded into thinking there is a silver-bullet solution to problems in the troubled waters off the coast of Somalia.
From the perspective of several African leaders I spoke with during a recent trip to the continent, the hostage-taking of an American was fairly predictable. Likewise, the sorts of strategies that are needed to prevent this from happening again are also obvious.
First, the United States has got to get in the game. As critical as it is for us to pay attention to Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and the Middle East, Africa is no less important. Attention from either the president or the secretary of state would help reinforce that we understand the valuable strategic interests in Africa as well as the volatility of the region. One way to demonstrate the seriousness with which we take Africa's problems is to quickly confirm Johnnie Carson as the assistant secretary of state for African affairs.
Carson has been US ambassador to several African nations. I met him when he was ambassador to Kenya and I was the top US envoy to Tanzania, just after the bombings of both embassies. Carson is one of the most able career diplomats in the service, well respected in the State Department and, more important, in Africa. Getting him on the job is the best chance to put us on a path to get our hands around regional problems.
Another issue that came up in conversations about Somalia is that engaging regional leadership is critical. The United States must make an "investment" in our allies in the region so that they can increase their capacity to counter such threats. This is another part of the world where there are no "go it alone" options to deal with imminent threats. Engaging regional leadership means supporting regionally originated solutions to respond to the deeply rooted problems of the area. It means increasing our allies' capacity to deal with security problems on land as well as on the sea.
Moreover, the Africa Strategic Command, which was launched during the Bush administration, must be fully embraced and given new marching orders by the Obama administration. Although the key to our engagement in the region must be diplomatic, there is clearly a military aspect to some the challenges. While AFRICOM has met some resistance, this latest hostage-taking involving an American might be just the opportunity to jump-start conversations about how AFRICOM might be more effectively engaged.
Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a front-burner issue in Africa for some time. It has endangered and slowed commerce and has had a significant adverse impact on East Africa. Many leaders want to resolve, or at least contain, the problem. It presents a clear opportunity to further bilateral cooperation on the military front in the region.
Given the excellent way the Navy deployed special-services personnel to end the hostage crisis, there were clearly some lessons learned on how to defuse future similar situations. But the real lesson we should take from this situation is that if we are going to effectively deal with the problem of "pirates gone wild" and the instability of the region, we need a comprehensive policy agenda rather than just stellar police action.
Charles R. Stith, a former US ambassador to Tanzania, is director of the African Presidential Archives and Research Center at Boston University. 