You shouldn’t need to look at 99% of decolonized nations to understand that building a country is difficult. Building an army is easy: round up a bunch of bored teenage boys and young men, feed them, and give them weapons. Building a state is easy as well: make a pretty flag, build yourself a big government building and presidential palace, and use aforementioned easily raised army to cement your leadership over the surrounding area by threatening and shooting anyone who irritates you.

Congratulations, you now have a state; at least until a general launches a coup, extremists chip away at the corners of your state where your influence is low, or until the foreign aid runs out or is halted due to your aforementioned shooting of anyone who irritates you.

A state needs an army, a leader, and land.

A country needs an army and a leader, but funnily enough, it doesn’t need land.

A country needs a robust justice system. A country needs social services: health care, social security, welfare. A country needs a way........

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