There is a bigger point to this story. Through accidents of geography, two of the main waterways afflicted by piracy lie beside Muslim nations. Many seafarers also hail from Muslim nations. Western nations rightly rushed to help in the case of earthquakes, floods and the tsunami. They should also recognise that piracy represents an opportunity to undertake the small practical steps, where there is no obvious benefit to us, which might really win the sympathies of South Asia's ordinary people. In his brilliant book, The Way of the World, Ron Suskind ruminates on the ways on which the West has squandered its moral capital since 9/11. Helping friendly Muslim states to deal with piracy is one way in which we could start reoccupying the high ground. Such measures would give some substance to otherwise vacuous mantras about "hearts and minds", and help to define a common civilisation between Muslims and ourselves based on the imposition of international law.