WaPo article today examines the situation in Somalia. This bit in particular caught my attention:

Somalia descended into chaos after U.S. and U.N. troops withdrew in 1994, with warring clans competing for power and the rest of the world turning away. When the Islamist push began several years ago, the Bush administration started paying attention — and funding locally unpopular warlords to gather intelligence and gird for battle.

“By making a bad bet on the warlords to do our bidding,” incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) charged last week, “the administration has managed to strengthen the Courts, weaken our position and leave no good options. This is one of the least-known but most dangerous developments in the world, and the administration lacks a credible strategy to deal with it.”

During the Cold War, it may have been morally reprehensible to support warlords and authoritarian rulers, but at least it was strategically coherent. In our current environment, however, supporting such forces is morally and strategically wrong.

This type of problem isn’t going away. Back in 1994, we certainly wished that it would but the past twelve years has provided ample evidence that such wishes have not come true. The challenge of dealing with areas of chaos needs answers, not just short-term crisis response. Beyond the Bill Lind “let’s isolate ourselves from the instability” and Tom Barnett “shrink the gap” answers, can anyone point me to the other people who are proposing systemic solutions?