How is that a strawman? You said "it's a matter of survival" to "defend yourself" and I'm saying that's not really a valid argument for the country in the article.

> Hegemonic stability theory (HST) is a theory of international relations, rooted in research from the fields of political science, economics, and history. HST indicates that the international system is more likely to remain stable when a single nation-state is the dominant world power, or hegemon.

Not that I explicitly agree, but there is some theory.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemonic_stability_theory