> “Ah, but Omnians are more like us,” said Colon. [...] "Just the same as us underneath.

Never underestimate anyone's capacity to discriminate against foreigners over the tiniest things - especially Colon, the median voter in a 'one man, one vote' city state (👇):

> "…Whereas we’re more civilized, see, and we got a lot more stuff around to count, so we invented numbers. It’s like…well, they say the Klatchians invented astronomy—”
“Al-tronomy,” said Nobby helpfully.

> “No, no…no, Nobby, I reckon they’d discovered esses by then, probably nicked ’em off’f us…anyway, they were bound to invent astronomy, ’cos there’s bugger all else for them to look at but the sky.

When the Prince's life hangs in the balance, after an assassination attempt, Ankh-Morpork mobilises for war. Everyone suspects Klatch of a false-flag - everyone, that is, except for Vimes. He suspects his own fellow Morporkians first.

Only later, when Vimes confronts Ahmed in Klatch, do we see that the Klatchian caliphate and its people are 𝘯𝘰𝘵, in fact, noble savages. Its government is just as ruthless as any other, to assassinate one of its own statesmen to justify a war over some rock.

This satirises how some folks view others through a blend of ignorance and hubris, armchair anthropologists who see foreigners as though they're some art exhibit to be studied.

Second, Vimes' reaction to realising he's been well and truly had satirises those of us who have liberal fingers on our pulse - to see others right, no matter who they are, or where they come from.

The Watch became a diverse force in Men at Arms (1993), and while Vimes grew to trust those different to himself, he didn't fall off the other end of the spectrum with zeal. He sees colour/size/silicon/clay/vital signs 𝘱𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, to the point where his entire beat is a free eye test.

Vimes might suspect the City's character, but this, in its own way, still accepts the proverbial terms of debate that his fellow Morporkians establish: that the fault lies squarely in the character of a foreign country and its people.

The real lesson, however, is that neither Ankh-Morpork nor Klatch trust their own citizens; in the first place, for states to justify fighting each other over stupid shit, they have to persuade Us that Them can't be trusted.