I worry about the picture you are painting. Most of the time there was organization at all these levels — the Attic city states understood themselves to be Gree

I worry about the picture you are painting. Most of the time there was organization at all these levels — the Attic city states understood themselves to be Greeks — for centuries before the efficiency and effectiveness of the higher order ones reached a degree where they could be useful. Part of what makes them work at all is actually the degree to which they are counter-balanced by the subordinate ones. It is possible the UN simply isn’t structured enough to address conflicts. For example, could the recent conflict over postal rates have gone through the UN? Adding “power” to the top does not necessarily create an upper layer that leads to stability. The Roman emperor was very powerful; but the effect was a lot internal conflict and war. The balanced states we have seen in recent years — more effective than what preceded them, though in a legal sense much less powerful — are doing well at abating internal conflict in part by reducing the stakes.