Unfortunately, when trying to expand your regime sometimes other nations take issue (as they should)
Direct support should have been immediate and global but each nation is too afraid of not being backed by all the others that they won't take the risk.
We, as a species, should be stomping on governments that attempt to take what rightly belongs to another.
I'm currently reading The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman. I'm not enjoying it as much as I did The Magicians books (my favourite books - and the ones that made me love the fantasy genre) but I really love LG's writing style and storytelling. The story itself is awesome and well worth a look