Blue Mountains

One of the main Dwarven kingdoms was the Blue Mountains. These were located west of the Shire, near where the Grey Havens were and the ports that the elves and ring bears left Middle Earth. The area had significant wooded areas as well. These two factors meant the Blue Mountains had a decent amount of elves living nearby. In Middle Earth history, the dwarves here are the ones that invented chain mail and made the best steel. The dwarf - Telchar - lived here when he made Narsil.   Of important note to me is that here is one of the major starting points for the hatreds between elves and dwarves. There was a loose alliance at first against Morgoth, but it broke down after the aptly named "Battle of the Unnumbered Tears". The dwarves became jealous of a necklace considered to be the most beutiful thing ever. The elf that made it refused to give it up and was rude about it. This resulted in his murder and the theft of the necklace. And a war in which the dwarves sacked an important elven city in the area. An army of elves and ents destroyed the dwarven army though. Naturally something like this would leave relations between the two sides a bit bitter.   The dwarves fleeing the fighting against Morgoth went to Moria. Apparently, all the dwarves ended up vacating the area. And once Moria had to be evacuated, they came back. The blue mountains also came to house the refugees from the Lonely Mountain. It was here that Thorin lived prior to The Hobbit. After the Lonely Mountain, there was a continuous presence in the area by dwarves.   A note on the flower wars and slavery here. The dwarves of the Blue Mountains would likely be the least intensive in using both. For one, there are few slaves to raid. Second, there are few flower war opponents. It would likely mean that slaves would be primarily limited to normal local criminals and debtors. Instead of flower wars, they would more likely use a sort of militarized Olympics.   The Blue Mountains would be primarily be concerned with their trade - like most dwarven kingdoms. Thus balancing would be their preferred course of action. The problem is who these distrupting superpowers would be. After all - on one side of the range is Lidon and the other has the Shire. Technically the elves would be able to attack, but that seems unlikely. If we remember, they are primarily trying to emigrate to the Undying Lands. They would probably be seeking to avoid a fight. Not to mention the fact the would probably have fewer troops. The troops would be a solid match for the dwarves and there is the history of animosity going back to the First Age. So it is not entirely out of the question.Hobbits would be able to do some damage. Enough to win a war or even justify one? That I am unsure of.   Both of these threats would be regional and short range. Both I suspect would be low intensity and remaining steady. Lidon would probably be more of a national military threat. Lidon would also be the only real traditional and lethal threat the Blue Mountains face.   Meanwhile any threat posed by the hobbits would be sub national and more political or economic. Hobbits would prefer to go after individual leaders and the Shire would be the main region the Blue Mountains need to trade through to reach their main markets. I would imagine that the cutting off of trade would be the only real major way the Shire could hit the Blue Mountains. But this also means they are a nonlethal, unconvential threat.