The use of resources: a teacher of our acquaintance once asked: "Wouldn't it be nice if, just once, our school got all the textbooks we asked for and the army had to have a bake sale to raise the money to buy a tank?

Canada is blessed with peace and security within its borders, and, there is virtually no chance, in the foreseeable future, of it being invaded by a hostile nation. That doesn't mean there aren't threats out there that we have to be careful about. However, it does mean there is little reason for Canada to have a large military establishment for Canadian needs.

The danger in today's world comes from what are called "Failed States." Unfortunately, there are plenty of them: Foreign Policy magazine and The Fund for Peace fists 20 countries that might be said to be in critical condition, among them Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, and Nepal.

Among the 20 states on the danger list are Kenya, Syria, Egypt, and Indonesia. The next 20 on the list (under observation, it might be said) include Russia, China, the Dominican Republic, and Iran.

The people who put the list together define a failing state as "one in which the government does not have effective control of its territory, is not perceived as legitimate by a significant portion of its population, does not provide domestic security or basic public services to its citizens, and lacks a monopoly on the use of force."

Foreign Policy says, "Approximately two billion people live in countries that run a significant risk of collapse. These insecure and unstable states are breeding grounds for terrorism, organized crime, weapons proliferation, humanitarian emergencies, environmental degradation, and political extremism--threats that will affect everyone."

With states that have already failed sending military force might be the best way to use limited resources. There is little point in building schools if the bad guys are free to come in and burn them down as is the case in Afghanistan.

Preventing failing nations from sliding into the ranks of the failed requires enormous effort from successful countries such as Canada. States in crisis need help in building stable institutions such as: open and fair justice systems, democratically elected parliaments, public health care infrastructure, a well paid civil service that resists bribery, and a school system available to all. Soldiers are not well suited to such work.

If there were unlimited resources all the problems could be tackled at once. But, resources are limited, so choices have to be made. At present, the world overwhelmingly chooses the military option.

In 2004, all the world's nations spent more than one trillion U.S. dollars on defence. This works out to $162 U.S. per capita or 2.6% of world gross domestic product.

On the development aid side, the world's wealthiest nations spend about $100 billion U.S. That is 0.25% of the rich world's gross domestic product.

Website

Fund for Peace--http:// www.fundforpeace.org/ index.php