Humans are tribal pack animals.
We bond together as tight knit families, that expand out in size and scope over time. Then we wage war on other tribes. Eventually a strong tribe comes along and destroys the military capacity, the fighting potential, of other tribes in a larger area. We call this a nation, or as tribes tend to produce: a Kingdom.
These Kingdoms keep order and peace. Because anyone who opposes it will be met with overwhelming force (killing). When enough force has been used by the same Kingdom over a longer period of time, economic interests take root. Stability produces economy you won't find in Anarchy. Eventually this economy produces nobleman, or Lords.
The virtue of economics slowly allows the people of a Kingdom to grant more power to the Lords. Eventually the Lords overthrow the King, and establish a sort of Republic or (as we call them) a Democracy.
This is a long, grueling, and multi-generational / multi-century process. God did not create the earth in 6 days, nor do humans become civilized over night. By examining the historical progress of civilization, and of human tribal nature you can learn what to expect, and determine how to move forward in the future.
War torn reigns need brutal, bloody, and victorious force to restore order. They need a dictator like Saddam to kill as many people as is necessary to keep the peace. You heard that right, I am telling you that peace is paid for in blood in Anarchist regions. Or the tribes run wild, killing peace and prosperity and perpetuating their own violence, this Anarchy.
Us Westerners are stupid. We think the choice is only between Kingdom or Democracy, but the use of force to remove a Kingdom resulted in the destruction of the King, the Economy, and the Lords. It resulted in Anarchy, in base Tribalism. These tribes will now define new borders, new nations.
While we can exert economic influence, the true outcome is decided by whoever uses overwhelming force. For the past decade we have elected not to be so deterministic in Iraq. So the tribes are rising up to fill the void of power left in our wake.
We, the United States, are directly responsible for this violence in Iraq.
Their blood is on our hands.