After a controversial final season, HBO’s A game of Thrones ended with a whimper. The finale accomplished little. Perhaps the most embarrassingly blundered portion, though, was the system of government that was landed on. Putting aside for a moment who was ‘elected’ king, we have a loose affiliation of six territories united by a force of a smattering of battered warriors.
Troops and guards in the capital have been decimated by a dragon, so the central government is lacking in defenses with the departing Unsullied while the Dothraki went…somewhere? Perhaps we are to assume they are off plundering the countrysides of Westeros which will surely not engender any loyalty to the throne. The situation is somewhat reminiscent of the League of Nations following World War I after the American troops returned home.
A toothless bureaucracy is nominally in charge of a collection of vassals. The vassals have nearly all previously made ambitious attempts at climbing and ruling larger bodies. Even if the long war has muted that quality in some or most of them, how many generations will it take for a return to endless and escalating skirmishes?
The only deterrent to war is the implication of muscular military response to any aggression. It’s not as if trade policy is particularly important to despots in agrarian economies. Are we meant to believe that a credible threat of violence can come from…Bran? His advisers consist of a controversial Hand with a broken house and a merry (?) band of misfits. Perhaps you can argue that Bronn has a significant force by way of Highgarden, but he is a former sellsword and everyone knows it. How difficult will it be to buy him in the future?
In an absolute best-case scenario, the civil war will come in the event of succession as influence-peddling devolves to something more savage. Even Edmure Tully would have been a better candidate with his military background, particularly if they re-established hereditary succession. The most important things for any future form of Westerosi government would be central military might and method of succession.