The crisis in Somalia is the result of the collapse of the state. Artificial states without strong social base or popular legitimacy are collapsing as superpower patronage is withdrawn and popular demands on the state rise. The best US policy is to anticipate and prevent state collapse. In Somalia, there were many lost opportunities where determined international and diplomatic and economic actions might have prevented the civil violence, chaos, and famine that occasioned the military intervention. Crises such as those in Somalia and Bosnia challenge the international community - the US in particular - to learn how to promote political reconciliation and to rebuild workable structures of authority. The success of operations such as Somalia should be judged not by the number of people fed but by the political situation left behind.