There are many cases in life where, it seems, the best state is not a Nash equilibrium. Still, I don't think it's fair to say "just game it then". That's a quick race to the bottom.
The constructive equilibria in political systems appear to be unstable, and need active work to keep them there. The EU is in fact born out of that very realisation - its earliest seeds are in binding France and Germany in an economic union so they stop going to war with each other!
