Failed State No. 1

The rescue of Captain Phillips of the Maersk Alabama was both wonderful and an amazing display of marksmanship. Now, however, very good questions are being raised here. They deserve to be addressed, since as is correctly pointed out, the level of violence is likely to escalate.

Beyond these questions, lie even more difficult ones that include policy decisions on how to handle, if at all, the failed state of Somalia. Clearly, foreign assistance to arrest the decline of Somalia is impossible. It is not safe for anyone to be based there for any period of time. But sooner or later, something will need to be done.

Piracy, although a headline grabber, is not the key problem. Although I am sure there are pirates who simply don't care and enjoy their life, how many have been driven to it by the collapse of Somalia as a state. This raises the larger question of true terrorists making Somalia a base of operations because of so many, particularly among the youth, who will be attracted by fundamentalist activities and promises.

So. What must be done?

Failed State yet?

Today, Pakistan's President Zardari signed the Nizam-i-Adl, or System of Justice, Regulation into law following the approval of Parliament. Rarely does a democratically elected chamber approve of such a vile, anti-democratic regulation. But then, Pakistan is a failed state - or about to become one. One with nuclear weapon capability.

This obnoxious religious regulation arose from the cave-in by the provincial government of the North-West Frontier Province and the jihadist movement in the Swat region that calls for a shariah-based legal system to be implemented in the area in exchange for an end to the insurgency. That included laying down arms. Is it surprise that the arms were not surrendered?

So, what are the development agencies going to do now in Pakistan?