A Self-Restrained Approach to Nation Building by Foreign Powers.

The central thesis of this essay is that nation building ? however defined ? by foreign powers can rarely be accomplished and tends to be very costly, not merely in economic resources and those of political capital, but also in human lives. Hence, for both empirical, social science considerations and normative ones, foreign powers had best greatly scale back their ambitions and promises. The more these powers focus whatever resources they are willing and able to commit for the intervention at hand on a modest agenda, the more good they will do for the nation they seek to help and for themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]