The League is very well when sparrows shout, but no good at all when eagles fall out.
In Irish politics personal friendships are as strong and binding as public principle is weak.
Earl of Charlemont
The First Law of Petropolitics: The price of oil and the pace of freedom always move in opposite directions in states that are highly dependent on oil exports for their income and have weak institutions or outright authoritarian governments.
When I came in, Haiti was not governed by Haitians anymore. Probably mostly by NGOs. And that has done what to Haiti? It has weakened our institution.
The problem with Mexico isn't so much the men who govern but the lack of rules to govern by and the absence of institutions to rule with.
Honduras in 2009 and Paraguay in 2012 were low-hanging fruit, small countries with outsized oligarchies, where mild reformers were easily dispatched.
The legal system in Afghanistan is very immature and porous.
Populism is strong in places with weak party systems because political parties exist precisely to form governments as well as legitimate oppositions. When identity politics predominates, populists will prosper.
