I am aware of a case where this happened and backfired. Mussolini didn’t want Ethiopia to join the League of Nations back in the period between WW1 and 2 because he intended to invade them, but was playing politics with France and Britain. France supported Ethiopia joining while Britain opposed it, so Italy declared support for Ethiopia joining to look good with France while expecting Britain to succeed in blocking them from joining. Instead, Britain backed down when they saw Italy throw in support, so Ethiopia was accepted into the League of Nations. Which didn’t do them much good because Mussolini invaded anyways and the League didn’t do anything other than a few sanctions followed by falling apart once they lost all credibility.
Fair point. I’m curious, do you know of anywhere this has happened/is happening?
I am aware of a case where this happened and backfired. Mussolini didn’t want Ethiopia to join the League of Nations back in the period between WW1 and 2 because he intended to invade them, but was playing politics with France and Britain. France supported Ethiopia joining while Britain opposed it, so Italy declared support for Ethiopia joining to look good with France while expecting Britain to succeed in blocking them from joining. Instead, Britain backed down when they saw Italy throw in support, so Ethiopia was accepted into the League of Nations. Which didn’t do them much good because Mussolini invaded anyways and the League didn’t do anything other than a few sanctions followed by falling apart once they lost all credibility.