After reading a bit of this thread, and seeing some fairly implausible things in my other games, I thought: "What if I just sit there and don't take part in the running of the world, and just watch?". I downloaded a cheat which allowed me to see the entire world, selected the most out-of-the-way nation I could find (Maldives), and set about building a massive navy that would deter any invasions. That's the strangest thing that's happened yet so far though.