Right.

I go to planning seminars on community participation--how to get a few residents to show up for anything, or, more challenging, what to do when dozens of angry residents show up. Getting them involved, diffusing their anger by meaningful participation, etc...

Th US"Failed State" efforts never quite got the drift of how essential that community engagement is, especially in times of war and strife. If they aren't going to engage then, when would they?

As a long ago blown up Iraqi provincial official once said: Concerned Local Citizens,everyone is a concerned local citizen; look at what's going on...

My interest was always about how COIN and US micro-strategies actually disrupted community engagement (although they never understood how or why)---and the natural instincts of all humans after a major natural disaster or war to rapidly get their lives back together.

I've read some very optimistic on-the-ground reports by Rory Stewart that suggest that the Libyan movement (never militarily professionalized) will be positively surprising (fingers crossed).