I've been lucky in my most recent game to be surrounded by city states. I have my 4 strong cities all with room to grow and a nice circle of city states between me and anyone who would want to fight me. Being so close all the bandits that I have been killing has made me allied with most of them too.
The only real way to attack me without having to deal with city states would be the ocean to my west. In that I have my navy going around tracking down bandits.
The only real way to attack me without having to deal with city states would be the ocean to my west. In that I have my navy going around tracking down bandits.