If so, there is a pleasing symmetry: with the parcelling-out done, consolidation has begun and not a moment too soon.

ECONOMIST: Russian oil

If governments never got round to parcelling out the Arctic, that was partly because harsh conditions seemed to preclude most economic activity.

ECONOMIST: The Arctic

Amazon can cut shipping costs by parcelling together different types of purchase.

ECONOMIST: Electronic commerce

Another approach has been to borrow from the American model, parcelling out the good bits of failing banks to solvent rivals and keeping the rest.

ECONOMIST: Global banks

Peasants in one commune there secretly started parcelling out land, expecting death for it, but soon gained backing from a provincial leader and Deng ally, Wan Li.

ECONOMIST: China's reforms

In the Gulf, ruling families followed the lead of Saudi Arabia, keeping all the important reins in their own hands while parcelling out patronage to friends and loyalists.

ECONOMIST: Arabs tiptoe to democracy

Even when Romans needed to plan a new city, they did little more than laying out the main axes and parcelling the land, leaving it up to the individuals to take action.

BBC: What if...you could design a city?

What is more, America's endorsement of the Vance-Owen plan would depart from long-standing U.S. policy to oppose the changing of borders by the use of force -- the practical effect of its parcelling out ethnic fiefdoms.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy