State Failure 101

I just discovered John Robb's excellent blog, Global Guerillas (hat tip: JG). He's got a very wide-ranging and synthetic view of a lot of problems, combining economic and military analysis with a fascination for phenomena and individuals that are intentionally trying to keep themselves from being observed and measured.

I wanted to call particular attention to a post he put up in December on the mistaken priorities of the U.S. in its effort to rebuild Iraq. Instead of focusing on what the most basic needs that Iraqis (and everyone else) want from their state (i.e security, electricity, stability, etc.) the U.S. has focused on delivering democracy, which is a fine thing, but a decidedly low priority for anyone whose main concern is whether his kid is going to get blown up by a car bomb on his way to school.