An appearance as of a slow collapse passed little by little over his rugged wrinkled face.

Every day of inaction means more deaths and the slow collapse of societies. (Editing by Tim Pearce)

South Africa cannot afford a recurrence of load shedding, as we stare down the slow collapse of the entity.

Meanwhile, the flight of the educated and the slow collapse of the education system condemns Iraq to an unstable future.

And it was probably a reflection of the slow collapse -or quick collapse, if you will -of the civilization at hand.