You could make a very similar argument for Germany pre WW-I, Germany pre-WWII, Russia invading Ukraine more recently and the effects in Europe, and on and on.

You could make a very similar argument for Germany pre WW-I, Germany pre-WWII, Russia invading Ukraine more recently and the effects in Europe, and on and on. Dictators do what I would call "irrational" things, though one could have a long, pointless, define-your-word fight about what "rational" means here. Over time, they become surrounded by yes-men and more and more insulated from the real world. Many of them also have very selective readings of history (e.g. Putin seems to think Ukraine should be part of Russia based on a slanted reading of history; he seems to have ignored the parts of history in which failed invasions lead to the dictator's head being separated from his body). The "economies are so strictly intertwined" argument which finds that war isn't going to happen, particularly when applied to dictators, doesn't stand up to casual scrutiny. One major virtue of democracies is that they never or almost never (again, fights about definitions here) go to war against each other.