Reality of the countries

In Shas Mishnayot, there are quite a few Mishnayot that deal with the laws of the people of the land, their loyalty, and how a friend should relate to all kinds of situations with them, etc.
I am trying to understand – is the reality of the people of the land a necessary reality and therefore the Mishnah teaches us how to simply act in this reality,
Or is this a reality of hindsight and they don't have to be like that and it's only because they are like that right now that the Mishnah teaches us how to deal with them?
This is because the extensive engagement with the Mishnah in the nations sometimes makes me think that this is simply reality itself (for some unknown reason), but my intuition has a hard time accepting this, so I ask what you think, please?