>RAHHH OUR NATION IS THE STRONGEST OUR RACE IS THE GREATEST NATION ABOVE ALL ELSE
>*starts a massive war that was completely avoidable*
>cozy up to regional/global power and essentially becomes a puppet state
There is one example that refutes this.
Because they lost. It's easy to criticize losers in hindsight. The exact same "rahhh we will conquer and replace the indigenous religion and people" led to the successful creation of USA, Canada, Australia, many South American nations, Turkey, spread of Christianity and Islam, spread of capitalism, Russian conquest of Siberia etc etc. There's no shortage of both winning examples and losing examples here.