Actually, not always. Thanks for the generalization, though. If anything, I'd say the problem is more the group mentality and the Atamaran tradition of ganging up on a few realms.
What you clearly don't understand is that this war can easily be over in a heartbeat. Right now, the war in the "South" (let's be honest, the "North" is now what was once mid-continent) is fairly well balanced. If Talerium joins Tara (the obvious choice), the CE and Strombran's only logical choice is to surrender. War ends, the League reforms, likely with Tara taking top seat, and looks for a new enemy, which they find in Darka. It's the same result if Darka breaks off now - they will obviously attack the CE, so the CE will surrender to Tara and crew.
However, if the war goes on (which is still stacked against Strombran / CE a bit), tensions rise and Tara pulls farther apart from the CE.
Darka is still symbolic. The big reason the League is fighting itself is the lack of other viable candidates. Give them one now and I assure you, they will take advantage of it.
