Building Empires (Kebir Blue)

I would just like to ask, would building a small empire only bring more uncertainty to my already fragile economy, or would it bring financial and strategical benefits?

With careful planning and work it could have both financial and strategic benefits.

Build an empire. Even if it screws up your economy, it's worth it since you can say, "I own TWO countries, b*tch!" to the non-empire owning nations.

An empire offers more population with which to build up a profitable economic base. The start up costs are a little imposing if you're not too wealthy, but manageable. I would work to build your main to 30M population, then take a slave build it to at least 30M, and repeat. At maximum, once all the countries you currently own have reached 50M+ you should take a new country so you don't need to deal with population losses which can add up.

If you remain at War Level 2 or below, you don't need to worry about anyone attacking you.

In essence: more people = more profit.

Strategically, it's pretty much the same thing: more people = more military.