Strength does not have to be belligerent and loud.
The only ground on which a neutral State can claim respect at the hands of belligerents is that so far as she is concerned their rights are protected.
Peace as a goal is an ideal which will not be contested by any government or nation not even the most belligerent.
I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.