"The War That Ended Peace"

I have been thinking about Margaret Macmillan's book "The War That Ended Peace", which is about a peace lasting many decades but ending in the outbreak of WW1. I am wondering, though, how peaceful could things have really been if they ended in a world war?

I am thinking that a reason WW1 occurred is because the political skills to prevent it did not exist. The world's development and expansion prior to WW1 was such that it outstripped any political and management skills European leaders possessed. And had they acquired the necessary skills and will from the experience of WW1 perhaps WW2 could have been prevented.

I am also thinking that the Middle East does not yet possess the political or management skills necessary to prevent wars, hence the upheaval occurring there today. The intrusion of modernity into its 'old world' has mostly been responsible for this, like it was responsible in starting WW1 in Europe.

The Middle East is now going through a period of enlightenment and self-examination, much like Europe did many years ago.