Jared Diamond, “Insights from individual crises for understanding national crises”

Most of us, at one or more points in our lives, undergo a personal crisis that makes us question our previous coping efforts and values.  Some people succeed in working through such a crisis and making selective changes in themselves, while other people don’t succeed.  Nations also face national crises, which may or may not be successfully solved by selective changes.  Are the factors that predict successful resolution of individual crises also relevant to national crises?  What additional factors operate in national crises?