Comment by jerf

If you're "conspiracy theory"-ometer is asking you for evidence for the proposition that "countries do not simply lie back and fervently hope for things to go their way but take concrete actions to advance their interests", your meter is tuned waaaaaaaay too sensitively. Whether that's a conspiracy is up to your definition, but that it's a theory that somehow needs substantiation is absurd. It's a plain and obvious fact of the world. Organizations of any size in general do not generally just sort of sit back and hope things go their way, but take action. "People take actions to advance their own goals" is not a "conspiracy theory".