Not a game theory expert, but maybe it would be more correct to say that we are stuck in a Nash equilibrium (no player can benefit by changing strategies while the other players keep theirs unchanged).

It's not so much that prisoners can't talk. They just can't influence eachothers decisions which kinda reminds current setup of sovereign nation states.

Not in "the" prisoner dilemma, but there are versions with communication/iteration, which are just as worthwhile exploring as the original one.