There were elements of both cooperation and conflict in the response to hurricane Katrina. See here for instance: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/092105_world_stories.shtml#0.

I would say we are in a state of mixed messages at the moment. People are worried, but so far the economy has held up despite the increasing stresses upon it. Once the positive feedback spiral visibly changes direction (as opposed to hovering near the cusp as it appears to be now), the human response is likely to change dramatically for the worse. The psychology of a bear market is corrosive. It undermines the ability for populations to respond rationally, thereby compounding the effects of the initial problem substantially.

Do you really think the US would refrain from making further pre-emptive resource grabs, trusting the Chinese and the Russians and everyone else to refrain from doing so as well? I'm sorry, but I see a tragedy of the commons situation here. I think the US will be busy blaming China, and anyone else it can think of, for the collapse of the American economy as the credit bubble implodes. Trust will be in very short supply and without that, cooperation is impossible.