Spotting Trouble Identifying Faltering and Failing States (1997)

[James A. Donald]

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> For these reasons it seems to us that military planners and
> decision makers should be interested in considering new
> approaches toward aiding failing and faltering states. 4
>
> [...]The cure they propose is "conservatorship," under which
> the United Nations would directly supervise or actually take
> over the government of a failed state until it became fully
> capable of administering its own affairs. 7 U.S. military and
> political leaders should immediately understand, these
> authors warn, that such a conservatorship would inevitably
> involve American military participation in some form or
> another.

Oh wow, let us expand our current highly popular and successful
Iraqi operation to embrace a quarter of the world.  Wouldn't it
be nice?  No, come to think of it, it would not be nice.

The problem is not failed states.  The problem is states like
North Korea, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, which are not
failing, but damn well should. 

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         James A. Donald
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