CLICK (or space if you dont have an mouse(???)) our beautiful union would decide it's time to tackle one of the world's biggest problems! PIRACY but how you may ask? by expanding our navy and ruling da seas We begin to massive(gulp)ly expand our naval budget in both research and raw output, we decide that infantry isnt really THAAT big of a deal, since most of our economy is focused in the islands and naval trade, it'll be nice to get some trade money going with this new expansion of our navy, why not expand our LAND LAND LAND, we send expeditionaries across the seas and make empty claims on whatever we get our hands on, positioning small camps of around 25 people each in little port towns throughout these new colonies ( THIS WOULD TAKE A WHILE ITS NOT INSTANT IM NOT SLOPPING) these new tiny port towns would, with time, turn into port CITIES and allow greater naval control... why did we do this in the first place *page turn* OH, pirates! Piracy is a big problem and if we successfully gain naval hegemony over the region we can eliminate it from trade and make us a HOTspot
TLDR - crazy naval expansion - colonies over time (not yet) - trade route control - eliminating piracy in the largest trade center i hope becoming a naval hegemon doesnt kill me... (assume my people have done this for a while)