Personally, I've always looked at TE for what it actually is: A TOURNAMENT.
This means, each and every one of us want to be number one and win the tournament. The people who fight for their alliance as an allegiance to the their alliance are foolish. The only reason I will fight for my alliance, is in the assumption that we will win and I will still be protected by holding their AA. Really, I don't care what place my alliance ends up. I just care what place I end up.
If a nation avoids war for an entire round of TE, and wins... then I say they are the smartest.
If a nation has full war slots multiple times during a round of TE, and wins... then I say they are the smartest.
If a nation goes rogue, hops from AA to AA, ghosts, raids, and wins... then I say they are the smartest.
It was discussed on my alliance's forum about what flag we would submit if a member of our AA won. Many people said it would be unfair if the winner didn't take other alliance members opinions into consideration. That's b.s. in my opinion. If I win, I'm submitting whatever flag I would like to submit. I won, after all. I chose which AA I felt would offer me the most protection, and I played the game smart enough to rise to number one. There is no honor in TE. And any honor you do gain gets reset to 0 every several weeks. In this tournament, I will forever look out for number one; me.