Dalrymple writes that while
a comity of nations, each pursuing its own interests, is not the answer to all man’s political problems or conflicts,
it is better than the alternative, that is to say
universalist or supranational doctrines that claim to offer a full and final settlement of mankind’s woes.
He points out that supranationalism
in practice necessitates the rule of self-proclaimed and (more likely than not) self-interested philosopher-kings who will have no sense of personal limitation and who will be infatuated with their own virtue.
