Comments on: NATION BUILDING 101 http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/nation_building_101/ Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:12:43 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Jim http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/nation_building_101/comment-page-1/#comment-12020 Jim Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000 /?p=4968#comment-12020 I was shocked to read that Warren Zimmerman died in the past week. He has an very good obit in the Post. Warren Zimmerman is noteworthy becuase he was the last Ambassador to Yugoslavia. Frances' article was quite good. He book 'End of History' remains one of the core handful of books that attempted to re-define what was happening in the world after the collapse of Russia. He was blindsighted by the impact that failed states have had in the world: our decade long struggle with Islamic terror is one aspect of that. Still, the problem with nation building is that there has been very little historical success in that endeavor. Most of the successes occured in the 19th century where colonial governers had free reign without the contraints of the media. The idea of the United Nations doing nation building is almost ludicous: the results of Bosnia have been negative in all the nation building aspects. The only success has been in stopping fighting: civil society in the Balkans is still in tatters with no prospect of ever being repaired. One of the most interesting books I read is called Adventure Capitalist. The author (moderatly left wing) constantly complains about the parastic nature of the United Nation do-gooders and the NGOs who swarm around them. I was shocked to read that Warren Zimmerman died in the past week. He has an very good obit in the Post. Warren Zimmerman is noteworthy becuase he was the last Ambassador to Yugoslavia.
Frances' article was quite good. He book 'End of History' remains one of the core handful of books that attempted to re-define what was happening in the world after the collapse of Russia. He was blindsighted by the impact that failed states have had in the world: our decade long struggle with Islamic terror is one aspect of that. Still, the problem with nation building is that there has been very little historical success in that endeavor. Most of the successes occured in the 19th century where colonial governers had free reign without the contraints of the media. The idea of the United Nations doing nation building is almost ludicous: the results of Bosnia have been negative in all the nation building aspects. The only success has been in stopping fighting: civil society in the Balkans is still in tatters with no prospect of ever being repaired.
One of the most interesting books I read is called Adventure Capitalist. The author (moderatly left wing) constantly complains about the parastic nature of the United Nation do-gooders and the NGOs who swarm around them.

]]> By: Confessions Of A Political Junkie http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/nation_building_101/comment-page-1/#comment-12021 Confessions Of A Political Junkie Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000 /?p=4968#comment-12021 <strong>Fukuyama</strong> Is a name I have to be careful to spell properly. James Joyner quotes, at length, an article Fukuyama has written in Atlantic Monthly. Fukuyama is generally a great read and generally right. One of his points is we, to paraphrase him, need a Department... --- Fukuyama
Is a name I have to be careful to spell properly. James Joyner quotes, at length, an article Fukuyama has written in Atlantic Monthly. Fukuyama is generally a great read and generally right. One of his points is we, to paraphrase him, need a Department...

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