As long as civil society is kept weak, China's social problems will get worse.
But after military rule in this country ended in 1999, experts say, the armed forces were kept weak to prevent them from attempting coups.
Unlike Kenya's thriving business community, its booming safari industry or its reforming judiciary, Mr. Njeru said, the national police service has intentionally been kept weak for decades so it could be manipulated by politicians.
The center of the phalanx was kept weak, so that as the Persian forces pushed through the center, the wings of the Greeks could wrap themselves around the troops and encompass them.
The leadership of the army, which was kept weak under the Gaddafi regime to guard against his overthrow, was forced into retirement along with the leadership of the police forces, and the intelligence apparatus was totally dismantled.
This is because organic molecules in the water such as proteins and sugars will adhere to the surface and are kept there through very weak interactions.
Perhaps weak firms are kept alive and strong firms starved of capital by fragile banks.
But western skills in quality control, distribution, marketing and branding still make a huge difference, especially when local competition is weak and imports are kept out by tariff barriers and bureaucracy.Foreigners are also investing in industries that offer better long-term prospects.
Despite generating huge profits since 2012, Fannie and Freddie have been kept financially weak, hobbled by their government minders during their years in conservatorship.
The United States has been pushing China to strengthen the value of its currency against the dollar, arguing that the renminbi is kept artificially weak to raise Chinese exports.
