>>281822383
Whilst I do agree, the primary issue with trying to ignore the WG is the WG's reaction to that. Elbaf is an incredibly powerful nation, but it is just one nation, whilst the WG is huge and has a much greater ability to reach out to other nations and to manipulate events on a macro scale. Even if Harald did his very best to try and foster positive connections with other, nearby islands the WG could both impede that process directly, or manipulate the perception of Elbaf and the giants in such a negative manner that Harald's attempts at forming alliances would be incredibly hard or simply limited in scale.
It's the old issue of isolation, and the WG would definitely strong-arm Harald on the seas. In addition, you then get the no win situation of either being passive in response, which ensures your isolation continues or the aggressive option, which the WG can then spin to also try and isolate you through propaganda or fear of reprisals against anyone who ends up forging relations with the giants.
We have the clarity offered by future knowledge of the One Piece world, which unavoidably biases our perception of what makes sense to do. For instance, we know that in the future multiple major power bases develop who are opposed to the WG; the Yonko and the Revolutionaries. Harald would have had no idea that would be how things developed and to what scale they developed. He would be gambling his kingdom's future on the hope that other forces that he is not aware of scale up to a similar level of strength as Rocks, to provide a multi-pronged front against the WG which would provide Elbaf with some breathing room to operate. He evidently judged that Rocks himself wasn't going to be enough to make that bet, and so he took the more pragmatic, but undeniably cowardly path.
