I think the problem IMHO with geopolitics on that other site (getting worse lately) was that content took over from discussion. We saw posts and reposts from 3 or 4 regular sites, with maybe one or two simple comments.
What I used to love about it was detailed discussion in the comments that was genuinely new content. I guess anyone vaguely interested in the subject can find a few useful blogs, it's much trickier to find a place with such a wide range of informed opinions.
It would be very nice if we could find a way to encourage conversation and top quality content, rather than just the content.