12 Steps to Fix a Broken Nation?
Starting with the experience of how individuals deal with crises, and taking inspiration from his own challenges, geographer and polymath Jared Diamond historically considers six national case studies — Finland, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Germany, Australia and the US — to work out what makes some countries more or less resilient in dealing with national crises. Twelve factors are key for national success: consensus that the country is in a crisis; acceptance of the need to address the challenge; delimiting the problems to be tackled; securing support from other countries and using other countries as models for adaptation; building and maintaining a strong sense of national identity; honest self-criticism; a record of dealing with both crises and national failures; flexibility; a set of core values and not having geopolitical constraints.
Diamond’s comparative approach lets him provide insight into a range of countries, but in listing so many criteria, he is in danger of being over-deterministic. In not assigning a priority to his ingredients, Diamond also risks downplaying contingent factors, such as the role of personal leadership. Similarly, in arguing for approaches that are more data-rich and reliant on quantitative analysis, he risks overlooking the more nuanced conclusions that come from more narrowly focused national analyses. Yet, valuably, Diamond’s approach prompts us to think more deeply about national resilience and how leading nations, such as the US and Japan, are adapting to today’s most pressing contemporary challenges — a theme he considers in the book’s second half and in ways that are powerful and informative.