1) Such a society may have difficulty organizing in the face of an external threat.
Iraq faced a significant external threat in the form of a vastly militarily superior enemy with virtually unlimited resources.
Was government-organized defense more effective or was spontaneously-organized resistance more effective at preventing this external enemy from achieving its goals?
Really good point.
I guess a counter-argument would be what if that organized resistance never..well..organized?
People could simply not be willing to risk their lives entirely for the better quality of life they had before the invasion/occupation.