One of the very few things that Bitcoin meaningfully has accomplished as an ecosystem is a world-readable repository of reasonably-well-attested-to-keys.
Yeah no shit.
ecosystem-wise I think it's a bit too harsh :) Bitcoin's p2p network does work (not without hiccups of course) - if I wanted to I could send btc to someone in say Brazil or Malaysia and it WILL work after all. And in some respects it will work smoother than trying to send fiat there.
I would say it is cheaper to send bitcoin, and maybe smoother for two regular users of bitcoin (and who shop online at bitcoin accepting businesses). However, that description applying to any two people is extraordinarily rare.
It is still definitely smoother, but more expensive, to send fiat. The infrastructure is already in place.
Whether the actual experience of that transfer is 'better' than fiat (WU, Swift, etc) is a different story and yes that would depend on the parties involved.
In many places it's easier to sign up for a Bitcoin exchange from your couch than to drive to Western Union. I can personally vouch for the US, Canada, and Thailand, where I've had experience with it.