I think most international problems are the result of there being three big dogs just like in Orwell's 1984, the USA, China and Russia. Each has massive lands, resources and populations of capable citizens. The US was fortunate to commit to a capitalist system and became, by world standards, ridiculously wealthy. Russia was mired down I totalitarian dictatorships under the tsar and under Communism. China floundered with warlords and then chose Communism. Despite the lack of success both China and Russia retained the essential elements of world power. The US wasted less of their efforts on control of their own citizens and was freer to concentrate on economic development. It took awhile but both Russia and China have figured out how we got our bone and are desperate to catch up. This desperation leads to very dangerous actions in relation to each other and to us.

Our cold-war hawks want to portray Russia and China as evil empires which will keep them and their cronies in business of bigger and more expensive weapons. Those that lust for greater government control like this scenario because they can get us to relinquish our freedom so they can protect us from these bogeymen. In the meantime we act as if third parties don't feel threatened when we roam the world telling others how to act and even precipitating regime change.

The danger is real as long as the big dogs are desperately competing for a bone that they view as the reward in a zero-sum game. The trick will be to avoid actions that prevent their development that is not at our expense and to survive until they do. There needs to be an adult in the room somewhere. I'm not saying that Trump is that person but some of the outrage against his actions towards Russia in particular would be consistent with showing them respect and engaging them in dialogue regarding their actions and ours as well. The opposition has a perception problem regarding the ground between submission and dominance.