This. I think the fundamental human inability to acknowledge and anticipate the complex forces that drive an opponent was evolutionarily handy in the savannah, but is now quite the handicap in navigating geopolitics. This is something that mainstream media is adept at - describing Iran or China as a monolithic malevolent force plotting evil against the rest of the world might be elegant from a Manichean perspective (e.g. &quot;Iran called off talks&quot;, &quot;China moved its ships to the Spratly Islands&quot;, etc.), but does not do enough justice to the mind-boggling complexity of these ancient societies.