BBadanov.
History of the World Part 1 , Mel Brooks. Probably sums up the world very well.
I think we agree in essence. Yes China looks well beyond the 3-to-4-year cycle of democratic power as does most autocratic nations. This in itself leads to another post on why democracy is a suicidal path.
Going off topic again. In respect to the level of world stabilisation with the advent of the industrial era I would say just shifted the stage from local area of trade agreements, pacts etc to the world platform. And that I guess is the nub of my posts. To demonise those that take the offered gold coin is exactly the same as trade agreements (lose of a countries ability to be self-sufficient), security pacts (which only work if the pact remains relevant to those that will step in otherwise best of luck) etc..