Border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia escalates, prompting UN intervention and mass evacuations, with death toll rising to 32.

The UN Security Council held an emergency closed-door meeting Friday in New York. Malaysia, which chairs the 10-nation regional bloc that includes both countries, called for an end to the hostilities and offered to mediate.

"The U.S. already flunked the test and that should be a wakeup call," a former senior U.S. State Department official told Newsweek.

Clearly a significant number of territorial squabbles exist simply to provide a jingoistic distraction, an excuse to rally around the flag or challenge the patriotism of a political rival. And while they can flare up organically,