Paul Collier- TED Talk #7

Through his TED Talk, Paul Collier reflected on his views on how a conflicting nation should reform in order to become a successful nation. Collier stated that 40% of post-conflict countries revert back to instability within the next decade. This statistic encouraged Collier to look into these situations with more depth. With this gained knowledge, he concluded that politics can not be the first priority of a new nation. Instead, the government must focus on economic development and security. He believes that the nation's leaders must create a sense of security among the nation to make the citizens feel comfortable that their developing country is on the right track. This will prevent controversies or any conflicting views. He also believes that elections promote the wrong actions. Although elections are democratic, they eventually end in a winner and loser. This competition in a developing country will lead to more conflict, he says, as represented through his statistic he shared at the beginning. Through a specific objective given to the government, Collier believes that renewed nations will be able to progress and become successful in today's society.
Throughout his talk, Paul Collier didn't use any visual aids or examples that I believe would help better convey his message. Instead, he maintained almost the same position on stage, making his presentation slightly bland and lacking amusement. Although his physical actions did not reflect enthusiasm, his excited statements did contribute to his message, which created significance in the video.
I believe that if today's post-conflict societies followed Collier's method to creating a better society, the world would benefit greatly. By following these objectives, maturing nations would be able to interact internationally, ultimately aiding their economy, politics, and credibility. If these nations focused on reform rather than just the government, the conflict rate in these societies would decrease. Personally, I support Collier's ideas of making politics of a low priority when attempting to reform a new country. With the government and its people already demonstrating unstable behavior, security is the ultimate goal. With this, the nation can then progress onto other issues such as government responsibility, and ultimately its leaders. Collier's intellectual discussion broadened my horizon on how to handle international problems unlike the US has in its history. With these new ideas, we could create a world full of opportunity and success.