> We are not dealing with "countries" or even "Nations" here but _States_.
I agree with almost everything you say in this post--especially about figuring out what is detrimental to the state--but this part is too simplified. I think it is probably useful to separate countries, nations, and states in certain instances and at certain moments for analytical clarity, but in the end they all have to be reconnected. States, after all, have nations and countries as their primary substrata. This isn't to say they are identical, or that there aren't conflicts and irreconcilable overflows, but the state ultimately derives its propellant power from the country and the nation.