China's been using that strategy for a very long time, and it's netted them quite a large expanse of territory. I would argue that China's current powerful position on the world stage is mainly because of that policy.

Of course, if space colonization gets underway relatively soon, then the nibbling strategy is nearing the end of its usefulness. On the other hand, if it take a couple hundred more years the nibbling can still see some real gains, relative to more cooperative countries.