I rather like the idea of linking everything in Clarke orbit, and then running space elevators down from that ring -- because if your linkage between satellites is strong enough, it'll help support the weight of the elevator cable, meaning you don't need a counterbalance extending nearly so far beyond geosynch. Call the artificial ring "Gaia's Crown" (Jormungandr would be underwater, not in space, after all).

For Kurisu's question, I don't believe the van Allen Belt would have any effect, and Jupiter has a ring system despite having a lethal magnetic field. I wonder about the Moon's gravitational effect distorting ring formation, though. And boy oh boy, I'll bet natural rings would've had a weird effect on early astronomy -- I won't guess what exactly it'd have been like, but I'm sure it would've been different.