> Outside your own country, your local authorities have very little ability to do much Oh, they have the ability, c.f. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Perdic

> Outside your own country, your local authorities have very little ability to do much Oh, they have the ability, c.f. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Perdicaris#Perdicaris_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Perdicaris#Perdicaris_inci... (threat of war if an American citizen were not released) or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Jenkins'_Ear https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Jenkins'_Ear (war over abuse of an English subject) or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Wars (wars to prevent enslavement of American sailors). 'Release our citizen or we start shelling' can be a very effective diplomatic tool. It's just that they normally don't bother.