Pirates off the coast of Somalia

I posted a note up at Opinio Juris - where I do nearly all my blogging these days - about Somali pirates and how the Obama administration might make it a useful situation in which to discover a happy confluence among the use of force, international law, multilateral interests, and the traditional US interest in the lawful freedom of the high seas. There’s something about pirates that excites the imaginations of the blogosphere, and it attracted considerable attention, despite being very tentative. But it has made me think it might be fun to write a little article about Somali pirates and legal and international policy. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm .... But I should add that my Opinio Juris post was intended to raise questions, not answer them - I am not by any stretch of the imagination expert in naval operations or the law of naval operations, military or law enforcement or otherwise. A number of blog reactions have cited me as though I were advocating what my friend had said, and I’m not; or that I have expressed views on what the actual law is, and I’m not. I might one of these days, but not today.