What follows is rather long, you've been warned. :p

While Varian is not the picture of perfect leadership, I find the article flawed. I agree that it was a misstep by Blizz to not properly reintroduce Varian to the game, so people could understand his mindset and his history. That alone could make a world of difference in people's perception of him. The only other individual with enough character to actually lead the alliance is a trapped in a dream atm, so to speak.

In any "alliance" of nations there is always one party that rises to that position of leader. Someone has to take the reins, steer the ship, etc. The other members could certainly overrule that leader as he is unofficial, but oftentimes that person rises to that position because they have the willpower to carry it and because, stated aloud or not, they do in fact represent the deeper goals/desires of the collective...

This ties into the issue of Stormwind's sovereignty over the rest of humanity. The nation-states of Stormgarde and Lordaeron are mentioned in the article. The problem here of course is that both no longer exist. Kul Tiris does not factor into the game right now, and is small and intentionally self-isolated. Theramore is in Kalimdor, and is smaller even than Kul Tiris, it's an outpost more than anything. Stormwind is humanity's beacon, and it's the only one they have left.

The article states that "if Varian has more power than the House of Nobles, he's simply incompetent, is indirectly responsible for the existence of the Defias, and has no business representing the Alliance as a whole. Or else he has less power than the House of Nobles (and) he's more a figurehead than an actual statesman and lacks the power to make decisions on behalf of the Stormwind kingdom, let alone the Alliance as a whole." This is flawed, as it insists that the situation remained unchanged between the time of Varian's disappearance and his return. I seem to remember something occurring regarding the broodmother of the black dragonflight during that time... Aside from which, the article also assumes that Varian returned unchanged, that perhaps his captivity did not harden, strengthen, or grow him in some fashion. The issue of reclaiming his kingship isn't even worth the time or words the article gives it. Sorry. No self-respecting king with a love for his people would abandon his responsibiltiy as the article suggests. The article also seems to be under the misconception that Varian's hatred of the Horde and love for his people are not in fact the same emotion.

As for the question of whether the other races were consulted, I reference the second paragraph of this post. The article talks about the meeting we see in the Ulduar trailer. Which I find odd, as it was Garrosh and his purposefully inflammatory comment who instigated the conflict there. This brings us to Thrall. Why the heck he chose to have Garrosh and not Saurfang accompany him to the meeting, who knows. A great weakness of Thrall's is his weak will and waning influence. He has no control over Garrosh, as the trailer shows. He is also always so afraid of doing the wrong thing, that it locks him into inaction. (i.e. Sylvanas) Sylvanas, btw, knew EXACTLY what the plague did. There is no POV issue here anymore, not after what is revealed in the book.