One of the reasons, probably the most important, why today's world is a confusing and chaotic place is our natural instinct to look at it through the prism of yesterday. The assumptions and preconceptions that made sense of the past century do not fit the present.

The world of the 20th century was defined by the power of states. The dissolution of empires and the rise of nationalisms saw the number of states quadruple. For most of the time, war and peace measured the rivalries or otherwise between them. Even as it sought to regulate better their relationships after the carnage of two world wars, the United Nations charter paid homage to the primacy of states. As long as they did not threaten their neighbours, governments, democratic or authoritarian, could do as they pleased within their own borders.