I didn't want to necro a thread Opulon commented on "morale" and populism, but he explained that everyone starts with 50% global popularity and depending on what everyone thinks of you, your "Global Popularity" is adjusted accordingly.

Will setting my relationship to "Peace" with my defeated foes, help or hinder me?

AI sets it relationship with me to "Trade Embargo", does it benefit me to do the same back...and if I have a wild hair up my ass does it help me by putting trade embargo's on people across the globe that are expanding too fast for my liking?

Are defeated countries counted in the Global Popularity calculation?


I ask this because 2 countries that I attacked didn't clean up their mess, or didn't fully conquer those they were at war with and my OCD kicks in that I needed to just assimilate those 2 provinces from 2 seperate countries. So instead of the Global Popularity down a bit, it went down twice as much because I don't like leaving open provinces next to mine, or within mine...especially if they are near a border. I need something more concrete than just sitting there waiting for my Average Morale to go up, and thus my Global Popularity.

Thanks for that pro-tip, I didn't think it mattered, but I will be putting more effort into the declaration of war rather than be lazy and let the game handle it.