389: Why did nation building work in some cases and not others?

The boys drink and review Red Flannel Logger from Aldus brewing, then discuss the successes and failures of nation building. (Starting at 4:50.) Why does it work sometimes and not others? Pigweed calls this the curse of the Marshall Plan. The U.S. has a history of success with nation building with both Germany and Japan after WWII. Since then, we haven't had such great success. Does every human heart yearn for freedom, McDonald's, blue jeans and democracy, the way George W. Bush believed? Does economic freedom and opportunity lead to political freedom? It doesn't seem to. Why does it work in some cases but not in others? What are the necessary preconditions to a political structure that allows for free, democratic forms of government?