Quote Originally Posted by carl View Post
You have also stated in the past that good governance will prevent insurgency. I think that is (I am going to get into trouble for using this word) naive.
I've no real complaint with the idea that good governance prevents insurgency and can resolve insurgency. It's true enough, it just doesn't get us anywhere, because we cannot govern these states, we cannot impose "good governance", and we cannot transform bad governments into good ones. There is no magic power-sharing formula or perfect Constitution that will persuade the various actors in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, DRC, or many other places to lay down their guns and be polite to each other.

Good governance that is appropriate to its environment is not installed, and it does not appear. It evolves, and the evolutionary process often involves violence. We may at times be able to cushion the worst effects of that violence, and we may at times have to try to mitigate the impact of these processes on our interests, but we can't eliminate the process.