Fukuyama adds a perspective

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinions/?nid=top_opinions

His piece isn't really about the way states are now likely to interact, but one particular passage does add an angle I had not included in my previous post. After discussing the various dictatorships in today's world (and their differences), he concludes:

"All of this makes our world both safer and more dangerous. It is safer because the self-interest of the great powers is very much tied to the overall prosperity of the global economy, limiting their desire to rock the boat. But it is more dangerous because capitalist autocrats can grow much richer and therefore more powerful than their communist counterparts. And if economic rationality does not trump political passion (as has often been the case in the past) the whole system's interdependence means that everyone will suffer."

Its how "globalization" cuts two ways (at least): on the one hand, countries with different histories, worldviews, and systems of government are increasingly forced to interact (or: clash), on the other, growing economic interdependence places limits (not absolute, as F also mentions) on the extent of the acrimony.