The point is that it is ridiculous. That should be the driving conflict of the game and not american liberals vs. Retvrn Primitivst death cult vs. Donald Trump with robots.

The other regional superpower is used to legitimize the struggle and force the tribes to work together. But then the conflict arises from people worrying that this new superpower would just replace the NCR's imperialist ambitions.

New Vegas has lib brainworms that people just choose to ignore because its overshadowed by the world building and sub-narratives.