There's a sci fi concept where nations compete with teams of soldiers/mechs to settle disputes. Like a formalized proxy war. Of course, you'd have to make the resolutions binding somehow.

Seems like an out there concept but when nukes are potentially at play... I can just imagine an alien teacher going over Earth, post apocalypse. The kids would want to know what a Ukraine was, and why it was so important. They wouldn't know, but it was the same sort of thing as an Austria -- whatever that was.