"Russia and China are not governed by crazy idiots with global geopolitical "interests" who believe that it is in their geopolitical interests,".
I think that you missed one off the list, AMERICA.
To be fair, 'power' is the ultimate objective of the 'leaders' of many countries throughout the world, the same is true of 'religious' 'leaders' etc, it's the mind-set of people that elect or not as the case may be, that is hard to fathom at times.
The same is true in 'democracies', but hey!, you get the government that you 'deserve' & what a lot of crap the majority of them are.
If we look back over the 1900's, are we better 'served' by those in the past that thought they were born to 'rule, that 'democracy' was just a 'rubber-stamp', or as of late where people's interest is stirred, yet the results are pretty much the same.
I have a 'theory' that most countries that are 'democratic', would be better 'served' if they could elect characters like Bart SIMPSON or some other fictitious example to 'lead', as they can do no 'wrong' & life may possibly be better as a result.
Whatever 'alternatives' there are, cannot be worse than those currently in vogue.