When has friendliness and diplomacy ever mitigated a threat from an invasive or expansionist neighbor? I hear this refrain quite often, but people who say it ar

When has friendliness and diplomacy ever mitigated a threat from an invasive or expansionist neighbor? I hear this refrain quite often, but people who say it are usually referring to some glorious future event wherein two or more belligerents come to the table as equals, share some tea, then discuss what's really going on. To my understanding of history (limited though it may be) this has never happened unless both parties are capable of destroying each other. If there is any imbalance in the capabilities, diplomacy is a facade used to wrangle for time and optimum position. The concept of diplomacy in lieu of conflict is an interesting theory that has never really been borne out in practice. As Thucydides so elegantly put it, "the strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must."