... and modern Russia ... authoritarian strong man governments with local barons behind the scenes putting limits on the reach of the strong man's authority seems to persist through some of the biggest political disruptions imaginable.

Its reasonable to presume that the less dystopian scenarios will involve a rise of regional blocs, since that's what's tended to happen before. It is, after all, not the first time in the world-system that a wave of globalization under the cover of a capitalist hegemony has come to an end, and it seems to be more or less variations on a theme.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.