Marc - Thanks! That provides perspective to ask another question - albeit a broader one.

Shifting out of theory and into reality, there are some other questions about "stability" and "stability operations" that are, I think, important to ask. What is the required end state of the people conducting those operations? Will "imposing" that end state lead to greater or lesser social stability? Given that we operate in a globally interconnected system, what are the states "at home" that contribute to the "instability" abroad that the operation is supposed to "fix"?
(bold added by me)

Aside from the excellent piece of advice "first do no harm" (which could be viewed from a first, second or third person perspective with regard to the consequences of interaction, what are the thoughts about countering agents of "instability" which are not normal, or routine parts of an organic system or culture? Consider for example, the introduction of kudzu, scotch broom or Japanese beetles to consider it as part of a biological, eco-system type intrusion? (don't we have a new SWC member scientist type named Margaret from Georgia? Don't be bashful, here is something you can help with)

What happens once that "intruder" plugs into the system - how does its presence change it? We might also could consider "resettlement" and "human migration" to fall into this, as well as transnational crime, and pandemics. What about when multiple agents of "instability" converge, or gain synergy from each other, or create new conditions from which change the environment to be attractive and accommodating to other agents of instability, what about their effect as accelerants?

Dave Kilcullen raised an interesting point about war and counter-war which relates.

I think there is also a relation between how these agents of instability change the nature of "regular" and "irregular"

Slap's points about systems, is also relative (and nobody probably needed me to point that out), but I'd like to take a slightly different tack on that as well and think about how agents of instability move between systems - be they closed or open - maybe consider the actual means they use to do so, and the ways they take advantage of the means (again - all disciplines welcome to chime in - biological, economic competition, computer viruses, people, crime, politics, etc.)

Best, Rob