Arrange the steps of the Robinson and Gallagher account of British expansion.

1. Britain prefers informal influence through trade, credit and occasional force
2. A crisis on the periphery threatens the security of that influence
3. Officials in London judge that strategic interests, especially the route to India, are at risk
4. Formal annexation is undertaken as a reluctant solution
5. The new territory is administered at cost with little capital inflow

Their thesis is sometimes summarised as informal empire where possible, formal where necessary, and the last step is the evidential sting: territories acquired this way were often expensive and unremunerative, which fits reluctance driven by strategy better than eagerness driven by surplus capital.