Since 1850, Britain and the United States have sent military troops abroad more than 50 times to engage in democratic nation building but have left behind a lasting democracy in only 14 of those countries. However, even this low number overstates the weak case for nation building, because it includes instances in which a country (e.g., the Dominican Republic in the mid-1960s) probably would have become democratic even without outside military intervention.
James L. Payne is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Director of Lytton Research and Analysis.
Defense and Foreign PolicyDemocracyDiplomacy and Foreign AidPhilosophy and Religion
Other Independent Review articles by James L. Payne
Winter 2017/18 The Government Nobody Knows—nor Wants to Know
Summer 2016 Government Fails, Long Live Government! The Rise of “Failurism”
Fall 2014 The Real Case against Activist Global Warming Policy
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