So it's better to be dominated by an even bigger hegemon from further away?
>natural friend of small countries resisting regional hegemony
Consider Cuba or Venezuela and their relationship to the USA.
>natural friend of small countries resisting regional hegemony
Consider Cuba or Venezuela and their relationship to the USA.
Objectively, yes. In no small part because maritime powers tend to knit together alliances, not annex and colonise the way land powers do.
> Consider Cuba or Venezuela and their relationship to the USA
In both these cases, we are the regional hegemon.