Nation Building in the 21st Century

By James Carlson

Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit in Egypt, October 13, 2025

Ever hear the phrase, “nation building doesn’t work!” Many people spread this meme (memory gene) around in ignorance but it isn’t true. Of course nation building works, if you work it! We are dealing with the baneful affect from the culture wars that prevents us from building nations abroad and more so; we are being prevented from building our nation at home. We must get to the bottom of what it means to be Nation Building.

Nation Building is Based on Conservative Values

Let’s start with the modern culture wars. Many people recall the legacy of Dr. Russell Kirk who taught us about Law and Order. He presented his book, The Conservative Mind, in which he identified moral principles as the foundation of conservatism. From the conscience of individuals, we know how to behave for ourselves, in our communities, and according to the rule of law. Law and Order have at its foundation in moral values.

Dr. Kirk led the 1950s Intellectual Conservative Movement that broke ground for the 1960s Political Conservative movement that gave us Ronald Reagan. We are their cultural heirs. Kirk also noted the influence of Edmund Burke in England who wrote against the revolution of France in his, Reflections on the Revolution in France, in 1790. Kirk called Burke the Father of Modern Political Conservatism.

Edmund Burke wrote about Social Prejudice (praejudicium in Latin). As this means ‘previous to the judiciary’ there are many things like ‘stare decisis’ (to ‘stand by the decision’) that predate Court decisions and determine the outcome. In Great Britain, the Courts at Common Law had juries where citizens witnessed the rule of law first hand. They developed a social instinct for how Law and Order provided for Liberty and Justice. This is where social prejudice began; racial prejudice is totally different.

Racial prejudice (which has the negative connotation) decides matters in a Court of Law apart from the law by looking at the color (race) of an individual. Social and Racial Prejudice are 2 different things! Social prejudice builds liberty and justice whereas racial prejudice tears it down. Social prejudice built our nation in America and in Great Britain. Racial prejudice tears down any nation wherever it occurs. The familiarity of the people with Law and Order is the foundation of nation building and social prejudice (although an obscure phrase) simply summarizes that process.

Nation Building in the United States

Now, we turn the growth of the United States. After the 13 colonies of our country became a nation in 1787, we began our westward expansion across the continent. Each of territory was required to follow the rule of law and bring Law and Order to their region before they could be admitted as a State in the Union of States. The following list summarizes the many territories we have had in our nation’s past.

Major U.S. Territories During Westward Expansion

Early Territories (Before the Louisiana Purchase; these came from the original 13 colonies and early cessions by states)

1.     Northwest Territory (1787) → became OH, IN, IL, MI, WI, part of MN

2.     Southwest Territory (1790) → became TN

3.     Mississippi Territory (1798) → became MS and AL

4.     Indiana Territory (1800)

5.     Illinois Territory (1809)

6.     Michigan Territory (1805)

7.     Wisconsin Territory (1836)

8.     Minnesota Territory (1849)

Territories from the Louisiana Purchase (1803 onward)

9.     Orleans Territory (1804) → Louisiana

10.  District of Louisiana (1804–1805) → renamed Louisiana Territory (1805)

11.  Missouri Territory (1812)

12.  Arkansas Territory (1819)

13.  Iowa Territory (1838)

14.  Kansas Territory (1854)

15.  Nebraska Territory (1854)

16.  Dakota Territory (1861)

17.  Colorado Territory (1861)

18.  Wyoming Territory (1868)

19.  Montana Territory (1864)

20.  Oklahoma Territory (1890)

Territories from Other Acquisitions (from the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty; Florida Cession)

21.  Florida Territory (1822)

From the 1845–1848 Southwest Expansion

22.  New Mexico Territory (1850)

23.  Utah Territory (1850)

24.  Nevada Territory (1861)

25.  Arizona Territory (1863)

From the Oregon Country (1846)

26.  Oregon Territory (1848)

27.  Washington Territory (1853)

28.  Idaho Territory (1863)

From Later Acquisitions

29.  Alaska Territory (1912) → became state in 1959

30.  Hawaii Territory (1900) → became state in 1959

Each territory had an obligation to secure Law and Order before they could become a State. This was established in 1787 by the Northwest Ordinance.

(Northwest Ordinance, Article 2)

“No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land.”

The following is an outline of the path to Statehood that each Territory had to follow.

1.  Legal Foundations: The Northwest Ordinance (1787)

This is a landmark law that was passed before the Constitution and set the model for governing all later territories. Here are the main requirements that each new territory had to achieve.

• Adopt a legal code compatible with the U.S. Constitution.

• Establish civil government (governor, judges, legislature).

• Guarantee fundamental rights, including trial by jury and due process.

• Prohibit lawlessness and mob rule through an organized judicial system.

  
  

2. Territorial Governments and Enforcement

Each U.S. territory had:

• A federally appointed governor, serving as commander-in-chief of the militia.

• A secretary to record laws.

• Judges appointed by the President.

• Later, an elected legislature once the population grew.

Together, these institutions provided:

• Law enforcement (militia, marshals, sheriffs).

• Courts and legal codes.

• Local governance modeled on Eastern states.

In short: every territory was expected to civilize and stabilize its area under U.S. legal order.

3. Law and Order on the Frontier

Of course, in reality, many territories — especially in the West — were lawless in practice at first:

• Mining camps, cattle towns, and boom settlements often lacked formal courts.

• “Vigilante justice” sometimes filled the gap until official law enforcement arrived.

• The U.S. Army or territorial militias sometimes had to impose order (e.g., Utah, New Mexico).

Still, federal law demanded that territories build lawful governance as a precondition for joining the Union. Social prejudice was inherent in this.

4. Law and Order as a Step to Statehood

Before Congress would admit a new state, it required evidence that the territory had:

• A stable population capable of self-government.

• A functioning legal and judicial system.

• A republican form of government (as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 4).

  
  

So, the duty to secure Law and Order was both moral and constitutional — the foundation of becoming a legitimate state. With each of the territories, the work of nation building required the principle of Social Prejudice to effect Law and Order, which took ~25 years for a territory to become a state. Social prejudice and nation building take time. Law and Order are at the heart of the matter.

Nation Building after World War II

After World War II, West Germany and Japan underwent fundamental transformations in how they established and maintained Law and Order, guided largely by Allied occupation authorities (especially the United States).

In both cases, “Law and Order” didn’t just mean policing — it meant a complete rebuilding of legal systems, constitutions, courts, and civil authority to replace authoritarian, militaristic rule with democratic, constitutional government.

While the formal transition took under a decade, the deep transformation of culture, governance, and legal institutions — teaching democratic values, retraining judges, rebuilding public trust — took much longer.

•  Japan: 7 years from surrender to independent rule of law.

• West Germany: 10 years from surrender to sovereignty.

• Full cultural and institutional stabilization: roughly 20 years in both nations.

To say that nation building doesn’t work it just not right. It worked in Great Britain and America, it worked in the westward expansion of the U.S., and it worked again in the aftermath of WWII with West Germany and Japan. The problem with the idea that, ‘nation building doesn’t work’ is rooted in the fact that after the American culture wars have had their sway our nation’s mindset of what government should be, we no longer know how to ‘nation build.’

Failures of Nation Building

It shouldn’t be hard to say that nation building hasn’t worked well for Iraq following The Gulf War; nor should it be hard to say that Afghanistan was a complete failure. But this isn’t the fault of nation building; it is an example of the lack of nation building.

President George W. Bush once said that freedom is in the heart of every human being. While this is true, justice is in the conscience of every soul. Liberty and Justice belong together, just as our Declaration of Independence teaches and provides guidance to all nations seeking to establish liberty and justice for their people. To correctly build a nation one has to first understand what it is and then apply it.

First, as noted above, Law and Order has to be established in any given country that has been ransacked by terrorism. And then, the concepts of liberty and justice need to take root in the conscience of the people to allow for social prejudice to sink in. That means, people have to see first-hand liberty and justice working on their behalf and on the behalf of their fellow citizens. It may even help to put them on juries where they are introduced to cases tried before the law. We have to take the time (~20 years) for a younger generation to grow up to see how the mechanism of government based upon Law and Order actually works for their benefit. Again, nation building only works when applied. Half measures do not work at all!

Nation Building in Gaza

Israel became a nation in 1948 with the 2 State Partition of Palestine. Israel has been successful in building their State in Palestine according to the rule of law. They are able to provide liberty and justice to their people but the same may not be said of the Palestinians. Remember, the Palestinians are split between Gaza and the West Bank of the river Jordon.

We stand on the front steps of a new order in Gaza where peace is promised. However, the first thing we see in the return of the Gazan people is the former terrorism resurfacing and executing the Gazan citizens for participating with the Israelis. This violence has to stop; Law and Order has to take its place. If we are we going to assist in re-building their nation we need to provide law enforcement officers, courts, etc. The Law and Order that went west with the wagon trains must also go to Gaza for their success.

Please note: God prophesied that He would bring back Israel from exile and this was done in 1948 via the United Nations and the 2 State Partition. The terrorists of Gaza have abandoned this Partition but that shouldn’t lead the U.S. or Israel to abandon it. The Palestinians on the West Bank have largely remained quiet during the last 2 years and they can be partners with the Israelis to bring Law and Order to their regions and reaffirm the 2 State Partition.

The Gazans, having abandoned the 2 State Partition on 7 October 2023, should no longer have independent rule over their people but they should become a Palestinian territory within the scope of Israel. Here then, nation building will first require the people of Gaza to become a territory before they can become a State within a 2 State Partition.

Nation Building and the Culture Wars

Not much has to be said about ‘defund the police’ or other activities that offer lawlessness and disorder to the community. The insanity of the city councils who first advocated this should have been predictable - ruined neighborhoods and shattered lives (yes, Black lives Matter!), The problem is the utter lack of knowledge of how to govern within a State that was once established upon Law and Order.

In New York city, a mad man (Mamdani) is running mayor in hopes of making unilateral changes to the Law and Order of the city. As a socialist in violation of the U.S. Constitution, he expects to redirect funds from private hands to public hands for redistribution to other private hands. He has to know that as a member of a city government, he does not have sovereign immunity and can be sued for his activities. But as the Courts will likely support him, that is not likely to succeed. Nonetheless, the rule of law may be imposed to keep city government from exceeding its bounds to preserve Law and Order in New York city. This can be done by the State authorities or private citizens in Courts of Law.

The problem is more than a few people in city hall who choose to violate the rules of proper government rule according to Law and Order. They represent a small fraction of like minded people who seek to establish what is morally and legally wrong with the limited legal power they think they wield. They think they can nation build by some adjustment to the written rules we must follow. But writing things down on paper, or taking what is written off a page, doesn’t mean an end to transcendent moral principles. At the core of the problem with the culture wars is a lack of respect for basic moral values that adds value to the rule of law.

The culture wars, that I spend most of my time addressing, are at the heart of the problems we face at home and abroad. This is seen, not only in the madmen of socialism in America, but in the perversion of modern Libertarians who conflate social liberalism with fiscal conservatism (pick one). This has been a problem since the early 1990s within the GOP and remains a problem today. And along with political bias, we find the liberal media bias in general and the libertarian media bias at FNC. We are inundated with people who claim to know nothing about nation building or how it can work. I was looking forward to Charlie’s Hurt and Kirk working together on FNC.

Finally, it will work if we work it. Nation building has been outlined for us in our shared history to bring Law and Order to our nation and abroad. It isn’t hard to understand. What is hard to understand, is why no one is pressing the matter forward!