Firstly, they must control their military commanders and reverse the slide into predatory warlordism and criminal behaviour.

In pursuing a political solution in Syria, it is important to set realistic expectations. The country has descended into warlordism a take no prisoners fight among armed groups, some allied with the government, others with Al Qaeda, and all preying on innocent civilians.

Afghanistan remains the world s fifth poorest country and its biggest opium producer, with a weak central state that is further debilitated by warlordism and the Taliban insurgency. There are many reasons for this outcome, but at least some of the blame lies with the European Union.

A high level of instability and conflict on the continent, coupled with the general state of underdevelopment, had created fertile ground for polarization, warlordism, terrorism and crime, all of which created the space for mercenaries and the services of PSCs, both to combat these phenomena and to perpetuate them.

In fact, the risk of becoming locked in a protracted, low intensity war against militancy and warlordism is likely to outweigh any geopolitical advantages that the US would gain from military bases in the country. After all, the terrorist havens and command and control centers for the Afghan insurgency are located in Pakistan undercutting the US military effort to rout the Afghan Taliban since 2001.

Given the CCP s fear of warlordism which played a key role in China s dismemberment after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 this imbalance in favor of Shenyang is odd. The lack of a countervailing ground force in northern China makes it vulnerable to a possible coup by Shenyang, which has already taken advantage of its influence on the North Korean regime to put pressure on China s leaders.