To think like the rational adversary, you have to think



1. If I think he'll screw me over, I'll screw him over.



and



2. If I think he'll be nice, I"ll screw him over.



1 is very rational. Everyone with a spine thinks that, and it's honestly what's best for everyone. 2 is VERY uncommon. I really don't believe anyone can really think like that without being a sociopath.



The failing of centralized ideology is that often, it will try to subvert both 1 and 2 at various times. Christianity will tell you to turn the other cheek and that friendly nonbelievers will go to hell, and fascism will tell you to always follow orders even if you will personally suffer and that the people in other cultures need to be exploited for the benefit of the mother country. We are all simply humans, and the creation of these fascist abstractions like God and the State exists solely to obscure this simple fact.