Heroic Neutral: This is the way the Empire’s foreign policy, to the extent that it has one, is supposed to work.  (See Awakening the Sleeping Giant, Hegemonic Empire, et. al.)

Of course, where it all falls down is that that’s the way the Empire’s foreign policy is defined.  Imperials’ foreign policies, on the other hand, often differ quite remarkably… and most of the more strongly governed states we’re used to would be appalled at just how much the minuscule and laissez-faire Imperial government lets the average yahoo get away with when it comes to defining their own interstellar foreign policy.