Hobbes say in a state of nature, every men is for himself. Ie: Each men are at war with one another. Carry this metaphor to our modern dominate international relationship theory paradigm: The theory of "political realism"(
http://www.iep.utm.edu/polreal/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_in_international_relations), international relationships between states are:
1. Every state is for itself( IE: national interest). No country will "help". There is no altruistic behavior. Alliances, and partnerships are pursuit not out of the spirit of corporation, or doing good, but out of national interest.
2. There is no world government. The world is thus anarchy. Each states thus, act according to its national interest to maximize power, and influence. International rules serve the strong, and control the weak.
3. The actors are between states. There are no other agents in this model. Thus, multinationals, NGO, non-profits are not actors.
If 1-3 is descriptive of the actual world, then to what extend does it also applied to 1. firms within an economy( hp v.s apple). What about 2. different races( black, white, East Asian, Persians, Arabs etc), and 3. civilizations( East Asian, western, Islamic)?
Evidence from Online discussion forum indicate there is still a lot of racism between different races, loyal cult like followings toward certain brands, and racism between different races.