The fact is that no supranational institution can ultimately replace the self-interest of states: something that is itself founded on the naked needs of the mass of citizens—average people rather than of the enlightened liberal few. Progress on global issues like climate change and world poverty generate more headlines than dramatic action, given the actual scale of those problems. Meanwhile, territorial battles, such as Ukraine, Taiwan, and Gaza, will generate age-old behavior based on naked national interest, and have far more immediate consequences based on blood and treasure, even as their
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