That’s not nationbuilding. That’s just old Western powers keeping their former colonies from disintegrating into failed states. You can also read it as picking a side and propping it up with military force.
If Mali is a successful example of nationbuilding, thank you, I’ll pass.
Still, I think you are correct to be pessimistic here. Nation building is a task which we really are pretty clueless about, sometimes because political correctness forces bad epistemological habits onto us.
keeping their former colonies from disintegrating into failed states.
Um, “not disintegrating into a failed state” is a pretty clear prerequisite to any sort of sustained social/economic development (what you apparently mean by ‘nation building’). This may be somewhat sobering for a few advocates of pure anarcho-capitalism, but is not really a surprise to anyone else.
The French intervention in Mali comes to mind. Sierra Leone also. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_military_intervention_in_the_Sierra_Leone_Civil_War#Impact
That’s not nationbuilding. That’s just old Western powers keeping their former colonies from disintegrating into failed states. You can also read it as picking a side and propping it up with military force.
If Mali is a successful example of nationbuilding, thank you, I’ll pass.
They both look better than Afghanistan though.
Still, I think you are correct to be pessimistic here. Nation building is a task which we really are pretty clueless about, sometimes because political correctness forces bad epistemological habits onto us.
Um, “not disintegrating into a failed state” is a pretty clear prerequisite to any sort of sustained social/economic development (what you apparently mean by ‘nation building’). This may be somewhat sobering for a few advocates of pure anarcho-capitalism, but is not really a surprise to anyone else.
Nope.
Try again.
If France and the UK do that to their former colonies in Syria and Iraq, it’ll be a significant improvement over the status quo.
Maybe yes, maybe no, but they are probably not able and certainly not willing.
How about a rationalist article encouraging them to become willing rather than the “let’s not alienate muslims” idiocy Gleb wrote?
Encourage who? M.Hollande? X-)