A coupla things about North Korea.
First, it's been less than a full generation since North Korea came relatively close to being wiped out by famine.
Nobody knows for sure what the numbers are - estimates range from 250,000 to 4 million dead N Koreans. That's anywhere from 2% to 18% of the total population. By comparison, what do you suppose happens to this country if somewhere between 3 million and 52 million Americans died over a 5 year period?
Now, some good old fashioned Keynesian Stimulus can do wonders to help you recover from just about anything, so a massive investment in a nationalized push towards (eg) nuclear weapons would definitely boost the economy, but that assumes you have a shitload of credit or the ability to monetize your national debt, neither of which was available to North Korea in the 90s.
One of the big reasons for that famine was the loss of patronage. The Soviet Union cratered and cut their support. China stepped in, but they had their own problems with drought and shortages and lack of hard currency, so they had to bail too.
Anyway, N Korea gets practically nothing done without the help of a Patron State.
Second (to shorten the story), Putin makes out like a bandit if he stirs the shit in SE Asia.
And while he risks creating the monster - a deliverable H-bomb means never having to say, "Yessir, whatever you want, boss" - Uncle Vlad gets a net benefit just by pimping the chaos and looking for the opportunities.
First, it's been less than a full generation since North Korea came relatively close to being wiped out by famine.
Nobody knows for sure what the numbers are - estimates range from 250,000 to 4 million dead N Koreans. That's anywhere from 2% to 18% of the total population. By comparison, what do you suppose happens to this country if somewhere between 3 million and 52 million Americans died over a 5 year period?
Now, some good old fashioned Keynesian Stimulus can do wonders to help you recover from just about anything, so a massive investment in a nationalized push towards (eg) nuclear weapons would definitely boost the economy, but that assumes you have a shitload of credit or the ability to monetize your national debt, neither of which was available to North Korea in the 90s.
One of the big reasons for that famine was the loss of patronage. The Soviet Union cratered and cut their support. China stepped in, but they had their own problems with drought and shortages and lack of hard currency, so they had to bail too.
Anyway, N Korea gets practically nothing done without the help of a Patron State.
Second (to shorten the story), Putin makes out like a bandit if he stirs the shit in SE Asia.
And while he risks creating the monster - a deliverable H-bomb means never having to say, "Yessir, whatever you want, boss" - Uncle Vlad gets a net benefit just by pimping the chaos and looking for the opportunities.
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