"Soft Power" to Fight Terror?

Interesting read here

Mr Lee cited the example of the piracy problems in the Malacca Straits, a narrow 1.2km stretch of water corridor that sees 50,000 ships ferry 30% of the world's trade and half the world's oil.

LHL: Disruption of this vital artery will have immediate economic and strategic implications far beyond South East Asia. We know that terrorists have been studying maritime targets across the region. The recent spate of violent pirate attacks in the Malacca Straits show our vulnerabilities only too clearly. But the terrorist attacks will be an altogether different magnitude. Securing the Malacca Straits will require shared political resolve, and effective operations on the ground at sea. The littoral states have primary responsibility for ensuring maritime security. But they have to harness the significant resources of the major user countries without derogating from their sovereign prerogatives. The users on their part have considerable in contributing to this effort because no country will be found wanting an incident to happen, either to be reluctant to ask for help, or be reluctant to tender help if asked.