We’ve seen nothing but him acting diplomatic. Shanks is going after anything he perceives to be have huge potential ramifications on a worldwide scale to seemingly keep the world stable. I think it somehow ties into waiting for one who can carry on Roger’s will. He’s trying to keep the world in the best state for when Roger’s successor challenges the world to a fight.
The Roger Pirates, whether some or all are waiting for and keeping tabs on people who can incite and follow through this huge conflict.
The Straw Hat is another matter. Since the Reverie arc, we obviously have to wonder about its deeper symobolism or functionality(whether it can do stuff or is a crown of Ancient Kindgom like some theorize) but it’s still too early to tell beyond the thematic “it represents inheriting the will”.
I think Shanks wearing the hat for a time thematically indicated he was inheiriting Roger’s will, so I think it makes sense that Shanks is trying to support Roger’s last wish essentially, to find someone to start and finish the job he wanted to do. He gave it to Luffy because he bet that it’d be Luffy who’d be Roger’s successor.
This is the impressions I’ve got from Shanks mostly so far. I think top goverment sense that Shanks isn’t gonna start the conflict himself, and that’s why they cooperate with Shanks because he’s delaying that conflict too (although he wants to delay it till true successor appears, the World Government never want to see it happen.)
So yeah, that’s Shanks, he’s essentially gatekeeping the end loosely i think to make sure that the successor is capable of fighting this supposed conflict, and will take it in a direction that Roger wanted. It’s plausible he has more motivations other than this that we haven’t discerned, but I do think this is something that drives the Roger Pirates and Shanks especially.
*Theory by VerusCain
