"Post-Totalitarian Stress Disorder"
This – the damage done to individual psyche – and not just to the physical infrastructure and institutions of the country, is what we have to always keep in mind when assessing the progress of reconstruction and democratisation in places like Iraq. If things aren’t moving ahead as fast as expected, if cooperation is lacking and trust hard to find, and if the population seems apathetic and disengaged, it’s just the fallen regime having its final chuckle from beyond the grave.
is a fascinating piece in Chrenkoff (via Iraq The Model.)