I could have waltzed over you if I wanted, especially when I just finished off Mali. Let alone when I had tanks. But since that wouldn't be of any use that late in the game I didn't do it. When I had my troops in Mali I didn't want your cities because I expected Beam to invade Africa. At a certain point I thought he got canons, and I saw a peak in his power graph. Some turns later I found that it was Akots who had the canons, not Beam.