The politics in the article are rather trivial in a long term perspective and out of bounds for this forum (Thank goodness!).

Archaeologists build long careers studying collapse of civilizations, attempting to explain them and provide knowledge useful in the present.

Look at a collapse, the Mayan civilization, for instance, and you often find that the ruling elites recede, temples fall into ruin, etc. but the common folk persevere. Often climatic change seems to be a significant factor, which should give us concern today. After 1492, introduced diseases created havoc in the Americas, but the world is probably too global today.