Originally Posted by Charlatan

The West cannot nation build in the sense that they have been doing for the past... forever. The West needs to take a page from the charities in Saudi Arabia and Iran that have built schools (madrases) in rural Pakistan. They are funding nation building from the grassroots. They are funding the changing perceptions of youth and culture.

The West can continue to change the leadership in regime change after regime change. They can provide weapons to insurgents or government forces, support whichever side they currently favour. But without changing the foundation of a society or culture they will never succeed.

Of course grassroots change is a long game that will not show results for many years. Most Western democracies cannot think beyond the next election cycle.