A failed nation

If we consider Afghanistan as a failed state, it might make sense to say the Jewish people for much of the modern era have been a failed nation. 

The yearning for a vital leadership led either to the Sabbatean movement in the 17th century or the Zionist movement of the 20th century. Jewish rulers were no better at sustaining legitimate authority than any of the other ruling classes around the world over the past 300 or so years. 

The great powers’ international regime is beginning to teeter and nation-states are beginning to degenerate or to shade into post-statist regionalism. Surely the UN is a defunct institution. The non-statist leadership of the Jewish people over the same era has, however, not shown any better capacity to rule wisely. Perhaps they have been no worse but it's a low bar, and they certainly haven't cleared it.