That is the the key point. Like it or not, it is one world. Like it or not, motes and castles are obsolete and so are the foreign policy paradigms created when castles were state-of-the-art. There is no tribute to be paid, princess to betroth, or alliance to be made that can appease the forces assembling. Ultimately, no amount of military power can hold back the flood. None of the techniques or customs of nation state diplomacy developed over the last 10 centuries are of any value.
The only question is will that change be managed in a positive way or will we allow medieval policy habits to deceive us into raising the gates and pretending we are immune to change? Bush has called for managing change, not simply living, or dieing, with the results.
Ditto, er, Ditto!