One sure way to make sure we don't lose to Babylon culturally is to take them out right now. As donsig said, the land bridge is an excellent defense. Just a few troops can hold that against America. We have a far western Forbidden Palace so lets get some more cities under its jurisdiction.
I think that the analysis on production is also spot on. "I can build my university because somebody else can do the military stuff." From this point, in a game like this, I would typically be at war for the rest of the game and would remain a Monarchy right to the end. I would put a minimum of 50% of the industry into the military. I'd probably be using 65%-75% of the economy for prosecuting wars as well.
One thing we are definitely not doing well is to cycle our opponents. Let's say I'm civ F. To my East are Civ A and Civ E across a land bridge. A is a more attractive target and lies basically between me and E. To my West are Civ B, Civ I, Civ R and Civ I2. The biggest threat to me is B. My main concern is not to allow a domino to catch me as I whack people. I declare war on E. I make war alliances against E with A (critical), R, I and I2. Then I declare war on my true target, B. I take several cities from B and sue for peace. I also get an alliance with B against E. B probably made some alliances against me with far off civs while we were at war but I couldn't care less because I'm in Monarchy. I move my troops to my next target, I. As soon as my alliance with I against E is up, I declare war on I. I take several of I's cities, make peace and a new alliance with I against E and then move troops over near I2. I end our military alliance with I2 against E and then declare war on I2. Take a few cities, sue, move troops, etc...
E is my scapegoat, the "resource" I'm using to keep people on my side and their troops away from me as I ravage each of them in turn.