re: #267 Ministry of Fairness and Balance

That is rather the point: they are too unstable to be economically viable, much less interesting to any occupying force.

There’s no real way for the country to exploit the mineral wealth, because there will always be squabbling over who the wealth should go to. Between the warlords, the corrupt bureaucracy, the various foreign powers, and the terrorist groups who thrive off impoverished and ignorant masses, there’s always going to be too much opposition to organizing a functioning economy around mining.