On the article you linked—my issue with (almost all) academic types is that they refuse to deal with the role of corruption in human affairs.
In my view corruption is “normal” so that a large number of individuals will use their positions of authority to maximize their own personal gain—and that will over-ride patriotism or other ideological views.
Such individuals (let us call them “sociopaths”) are drawn to positions of authority in any large organization.
Low performing sociopaths become criminals and usually end up in prison.
However high performing sociopaths become corporate CEOs, leading politicians, heads of non-profits etc. They use deception both within and outside the organization to maximize their private gain.
That appears to be the case in all human cultures in all time periods—which of course is an argument for View #2.
But, luckily for us, human corruption is offset by its incompetence. Even if a corporate/group leader is a "high functioning" sociopath, his corporation is filled to the brim with people who, individually and collectively, are grossly incompetent.
Now that humans have developed nuclear weapons capable of blowing the world to smithereens, it is only a matter of time until some Larry, Moe, and Curly trip and fall on the "fire all missiles" button.