Why Nation-Building Matters: Political Consolidation, Building Security Forces, and Economic Development in Failed and Fragile States by Keith W. Mines

Author:Keith W. Mines [Mines, Keith W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Public Policy, Diplomacy, Political Science, Military Policy
ISBN: 9781640122826
Google: TQzoDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 48567069
Publisher: Potomac Books
Published: 2020-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

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During my last week in Darfur the UN Development Program organized a cultural festival for the ten tribes of Darfur, which I hosted at the Peace Secretariat. It was quite moving. Dancers from each tribe took the stage and with great energy played out their national narrative. There were the Dinka transplants from the south towering over the others, the Islamic Hawza—migrants from Nigeria who settled in Darfur on their way back from the Haj centuries ago—in flowing white robes. Hakamati, Arab, Dinariah, Fur, Tama, Zagaw, Kein, and Umregbath. They interspersed the dance with poetry readings and speeches from local notables. It was an impressive array of color and movement, the first time in anyone’s memory that all the tribes had assembled in one place. Their enthusiasm for peace got the best of me. After being introduced as the American ambassador and thinking it would be unfair to correct the record (after all that dancing they deserved the ambassador), I told them I had come on an official diplomatic mission but found something much more personal: a people who were generous and friendly and had a rich cultural tradition that I was quite moved to see on display in the interest of peace. I told my son that it reminded me of how civil wars usually end: the parties eventually just get tired and give up. And that is still where we are—holding off the worst until something better makes itself available. And that, by my standards, is a valid and commendable goal. It had better be, because for now it is as good as it gets.

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