If you were dictator for a day, and the only thing standing between you and your enemies was one "neutral" country, and your two choices are to either invade an

If you were dictator for a day, and the only thing standing between you and your enemies was one "neutral" country, and your two choices are to either invade and consolidate, or let them ally with your enemies.. then one outcome is obviously more of an existential threat than the other. "legitimate" is a loaded word, but the game theory strongly supports one of these options.