The World Addresses International Piracy

Piracy has become a growing problem for international shipping in a few parts of the world. The one most talked about and the most in the news more recently is the pirates off the coast of Africa. Not only is this an area that seems to have frequent unrest, but it is also less regulated than other parts of the world so pirates may have more leeway. We have all heard of the Somali pirates that hijacked the Maersk Alabama and while this was greatly publicized, it is not the only time pirates have attacked in this region. Ever since the civil wars in Somalia, the piracy there has been a growing problem. It is so much so a problem that now it has become an issue to be tackled on a world level. Leaders from various countries have been stepping up to address the issues and try to get a better hold on the region. Russia has even proposed an international piracy tribunal. After all, it is the lack of efforts in this areas that have allowed the problem to get this far. Meantime, there are some large obstacles that need to be overcome before anything can happen on a world level. The largest and most important is that Somalia needs to have a stable government. Over the past seven years there has only been an interim government in place which is not enough under the circumstances. Thankfully a new president and new legislators are due to be elected although details are still unfinished. This should lead the start to new policies and further world leaders joining to quash the terrorism that is piracy.