Honestly, many of the admirals going rogue (Like Admiral Pressman trying to develop a Federation cloaking device in "The Pegasus", and Admiral Leyton trying to pull a coup in "Homefront/Paradise Lost") are probably a symptom of how bad things had gotten in the Federation government.
As we've seen in our own world, political ideologies can be incredibly dangerous when they reach a critical mass in the areas of power. What we've seen with the Federation in the 100 years after the Khitomer Accords perfectly matches the pattern of complacency and self-sabotage when a self-interested, self righteous political faction expands its reach and power.
Basically, with the Khitomer Accords signed, the Peacenik Faction of the Federation and Starfleet began to take more and more influence across all levels of their society. And like any political faction based on how righteous they were, they couldn't be satisfied with just a little power. They just kept pushing and pushing for more influence. And while there's nothing wrong with having balanced political factions of hawks and doves, having too many doves is just as bad as too many hawks in charge. And the doves had been denied power for a long time.
Even with threats like the Cardassians, the Tholians, the Talarians, and the Tzenkethi causing small border wars, this faction maintained its influence and expanded it. After all, none of these empires had the same reach or industrial power as the Klingons or the Romulans. None of them had even half of the territory of the Romulans or Klingons. So these could be excused as minor border conflicts, police actions and the like. Nothing that would deter the trajectory of the Peacenik Faction's ambitions.
Then Wolf 359 happened. The Federation's weakness was exposed. The Peacenik faction lost power, but unfortunately they'd been entrenched for decades. So even such a catastrophic event couldn't remove or convince them to change their minds. Not at once.
So what we're seeing with the canon Star Trek is actually very fitting for a civilization that's been suffering from an entrenched pacifistic political faction at the highest levels of power unable to adjust to changing conditions fast enough, and their complacency is literally endangering the Federation. The Dominion War however taught the Federation that sometimes peace is just another word for surrender, and if they want to go out into the unknown, they need to be prepared to fight as well as talk.
It is telling that in Star Trek Online, it is revealed that MACO, Military Assault Command Operations/Organization (the Federation's ground based army) was brought back into being around the time after the Dominion War.
As we've seen in our own world, political ideologies can be incredibly dangerous when they reach a critical mass in the areas of power. What we've seen with the Federation in the 100 years after the Khitomer Accords perfectly matches the pattern of complacency and self-sabotage when a self-interested, self righteous political faction expands its reach and power.
Basically, with the Khitomer Accords signed, the Peacenik Faction of the Federation and Starfleet began to take more and more influence across all levels of their society. And like any political faction based on how righteous they were, they couldn't be satisfied with just a little power. They just kept pushing and pushing for more influence. And while there's nothing wrong with having balanced political factions of hawks and doves, having too many doves is just as bad as too many hawks in charge. And the doves had been denied power for a long time.
Even with threats like the Cardassians, the Tholians, the Talarians, and the Tzenkethi causing small border wars, this faction maintained its influence and expanded it. After all, none of these empires had the same reach or industrial power as the Klingons or the Romulans. None of them had even half of the territory of the Romulans or Klingons. So these could be excused as minor border conflicts, police actions and the like. Nothing that would deter the trajectory of the Peacenik Faction's ambitions.
Then Wolf 359 happened. The Federation's weakness was exposed. The Peacenik faction lost power, but unfortunately they'd been entrenched for decades. So even such a catastrophic event couldn't remove or convince them to change their minds. Not at once.
So what we're seeing with the canon Star Trek is actually very fitting for a civilization that's been suffering from an entrenched pacifistic political faction at the highest levels of power unable to adjust to changing conditions fast enough, and their complacency is literally endangering the Federation. The Dominion War however taught the Federation that sometimes peace is just another word for surrender, and if they want to go out into the unknown, they need to be prepared to fight as well as talk.
It is telling that in Star Trek Online, it is revealed that MACO, Military Assault Command Operations/Organization (the Federation's ground based army) was brought back into being around the time after the Dominion War.