Last week, French naval forces captured another nine pirates, this time turning them over to authorities in Puntland (a Somali region aspiring to independence) for trial. The Puntland government has thus far been hostile to pirates and has made positive noises about cooperation with international authorities, so there's reason to believe that the pirates are in serious, genuine trouble.
Last week at Patterson, a speaker mentioned that France has taken the lead in aggressive action against pirates, and also that France has been at the forefront of efforts to strengthen the military institutions of the European Union. This caused me to wonder whether the two trends are connected; have the French decided that they can use piracy as an issue to highlight the desirability of tighter EU military cooperation? Anti-pirate activity is (unlike many uses of military force) very popular, exciting, and altogether photogenic. Making sure that French commandos and naval units have a leading role in the fight against pirates certainly enhances French military prestige. It will be interesting to see whether France makes an effort to push for direct European Union (as opposed to NATO) participation in anti-pirate activities. Of course, the fact that the financial system of the EU may be on the brink of collapse could make this a moot point.
--Robert Farley
