Lots of the same thing

When you first play, the game feels like you have unlimited power, but as you start to conquer more and more countries, the outcome seems to always to be like this: You start off by requesting the country to join your "empire". 95% of the time they will say no, and now you can't ask them again for an in-game year. If you really want to conquer this country, you will have to declare war on them. To win the war you need a strong army. And after you do, nothing.