People make war when they believe the benefits will be greater than the cost of the war. The South seceded because they believed their slave-powered plantation economy would support the war and thrive without Union interference. Oops.....People have gone to wars for a lot less/more than resources and territory, look at the US civil war between pro slave and no slave, look at the UK civil war between monarchy and no monarchy.... admit it, if someone insults the Glorious Leader we'll be taking up arms to defend his honor, especially if it's by those spreadsheet lovin' squares from ADI
A whole lot of TESTes would happily go to war to avenge an insult to Dear Leader, but they won't sacrifice the ships they've spent in-game time earning a second time without a ship replacement program. In an economy that's 90% NPC-driven, what will ever be so profitable that it covers the cost of a massive TEST war fleet with profits to spare?