The (Semi-Unattainable) Fourteen Points

This is a fascinating series of articles from a fascinating blog I've just discovered. As you might guess, I'm fascinated. I'm a big fan of geography in general, and issue of ethnic minorities throughout the world is something I've been thinking a lot about lately.
I suppose it has something to do with the fact that if you tried to follow, address, and correct all the oppressions and injustices throughout the world, your only tangible accomplishment would be the epic racking-up of airline miles and various other travel awards.
There are places with suffering minorities where the world is on the case -- to a certain point. We care about and hope to seek an end to the problems in Darfur (and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa), Tibet, and Kosovo. But there are so many other places in the world where ethnic and cultural tectonic plates are colliding, and most of the rest of the world doesn't even know about it. In fact, these places "between the plates" have been in collision for centuries, and will continue to collide for many more. South Ossetia? Pakistan? India? Iran? Turkey? Almost anywhere in far Eastern Europe, the Middle East, or South Asia have enough simmering ethnic instability to make for a real geopolitical nightmare.
I just can't help thinking about World War One. Remember that one? Europe was on top of the world until a disgruntled pistol-toter with state-sponsorship took a shot at a head of state. Four years and change later, millions were dead and the empires that had ruled vast multinational populations were dead too. There was the promise that all these minority populations would be able to exercise glorious self-determination, but very few populations throughout the world could make it work. In ten years, the world was reeling from a global financial meltdown and a big part of the world was looking to strong-willed rulers who bemoaned the loss of territory and sought to get it back. Territory exchanged hands and deals were made, but a new, more devastating war came anyway.
This is not an unfamiliar pattern throughout history -- existing geopolitical instability plus worldwide financial instability equals beaucoup bad shit. Read Niall Ferguson if you really want to find a good reason to up that lorazepam prescription.