I read your piece Ken.
I see things differently. There was a time when we had land we could expand into.(apologies Blackeagle). This has led to a certain frontier mentality of individual rights being more important than living within the constraints of a finite planet.
This anachronism will fade, but it still lingers.
That there is going to be a one-world government is no more by design than the sun rising in the morning is by mortal design.
That there are people jockeying for positions of Influence in the new structure is a given. They are however, an effect not a cause. They are opportunists. Do they conspire? Is the Pope a Catholic?
Asimov stated that the size of an Empire is dependent on it's speed of communication. The speed of communication at present is the speed of light. Therefore the natural size of this empire is at least the size of the planet. It will extend out for a radius of three light days.(7777exp7 kms) If Einstein's equations hold, which I doubt.
This is exactly what it is like as a species prepares to migrate to the stars. It is a Fire in a Madhouse. The Mycelia, via Terrance Mckenna.