I'm not necessarily ascribing agency to the actors. The verbiage I used was for brevity. I too see these events as mostly the confluence of bottom-up trends ou

I'm not necessarily ascribing agency to the actors. The verbiage I used was for brevity. I too see these events as mostly the confluence of bottom-up trends outside anyone's control, with occasional pressure points at which "great men" can exert unique influence. I do however see conflict as inevitable.